UK Sets Path to Crypto Regulation With FCA Consultation

The UK is moving decisively toward full crypto regulation, with the Financial Conduct Authority outlining which activities will fall under its upcoming regime, even as questions remain about what comes next, according to one expert.

The FCA has announced a consultation on regulated crypto activities, confirming that a full regime will come into force by October 2027, with firms able to apply for authorisation from September 2026.

The consultation, published on Wednesday, sets out how services like trading, custody, stablecoin issuance, and staking will be brought into scope.

The guidance is intended to help firms determine whether they fall within the regulatory perimeter as the UK shifts from a largely unregulated environment, currently focused on financial promotions and anti-money laundering, to a structured system governing cryptoasset services.

Crypto regulation in the UK

Yuriy Brisov, Partner at Digital & Analogue Partners, told Decrypt that the FCA has chosen an “activity-based perimeter,” rather than licensing entire firms.

“It is drafted around intermediated models: issuers, custodians, venues, staking providers, rather than around protocol-level functions,” he noted, adding the approach is “more flexible than an entity-based licence but still aligns with today’s CeFi taxonomy.”

“My reading is that the perimeter, as currently drafted, deliberately does not yet describe the part of the market most likely to define the next cycle,” Brisov said, noting that firms building non-custodial or composable systems should expect “ongoing classification debates.”

“It is also unclear—and EU regulation faces a similar problem—how DeFi protocols should operate in the early stages,” he said, arguing that, “the only truly DeFi project on Earth so far is Bitcoin.”

The FCA confirmed it will separately consult on DeFi guidance and operational resilience rules for firms using distributed ledger technology later this year, alongside updates to the Financial Crime Guide relevant to cryptoasset firms.

In January, the regulator launched a consultation seeking feedback on consumer duty, conduct standards, and oversight requirements for crypto firms operating in the UK.

“The framework largely repurposes the post-2008 toolkit—authorisation, prudential capital, conduct rules, market-abuse surveillance,” Brisov said, adding it “does not yet address the risks that emerge from the technology itself.”

On systemic risk, the regime focuses on custody integrity, financial crime, and market abuse, while leaving issues like cross-protocol contagion and offshore spillovers less clearly addressed, he noted.

The consultation closes June 3, with final rules expected this summer and additional guidance in the autumn.

The process builds on legislative changes passed in February that brought crypto activities within the UK’s regulatory remit, as policymakers aim to create what the FCA describes as an “open, sustainable and competitive” market.

Crypto firms, including overseas operators serving UK users, will need to reassess their structures ahead of the 2026 authorisation window.

On the role of banks in the UK’s crypto regulatory framework, Brisov identified three roles of increasing consequence: banks as service providers to authorised crypto firms, banks as safeguarders of qualifying cryptoassets, and banks as potential issuers of tokenised deposits or qualifying stablecoins.

“Where that boundary settles will be one of the more consequential design choices for UK monetary infrastructure over the next few years,” he noted.