The Financial Conduct Authority opens its new crypto authorisation gateway at 7 a.m. UK time on September 30, 2026. According to reports from Crypto.news, firms have until February 28, 2027 to enter the main application window before a new regulatory regime begins on October 25, 2027. The application window provides firms a route to preserve their business while regulators decide on authorisation, but it does not lower the standards for becoming authorised. For a firm still awaiting a decision at the regime start date, the date it submitted a valid application can determine whether it may keep serving customers or only wind down existing contracts. As the FCA emphasizes, firms running any regulated activities involving cryptoassets in the UK must map their business against the regulatory perimeter now, given how far ahead of the in-force date the application gateway opens.
The FCA has published guidance setting out how the law underpinning the UK's incoming cryptoasset regime applies to firms' business models, with the guidance published on September 16, 2026. As reported by Crypto.news, the guidance names the activities that may require FCA authorisation: issuing qualifying stablecoins, operating cryptoasset trading platforms, dealing and arranging deals in cryptoassets, safeguarding cryptoassets, and arranging cryptoasset staking. The guidance applies to firms carrying out any of these lines involving cryptoassets in the UK, including stablecoin issuers, trading platform operators, dealers and arrangers, custodians and staking arrangers. The FCA finalized its main crypto rules and guidance on June 30 after several rounds of consultations, setting requirements across custody, capital, operational resilience, disclosures, market conduct and treatment of customers. The framework covers activities including issuing qualifying stablecoins, operating cryptoasset trading platforms, dealing and arranging transactions, safeguarding cryptoassets and arranging cryptoasset staking.
The new FCA regime introduces strict licensing standards closer to those facing banks and brokers, moving beyond the current anti-money laundering registration system. As reported by Crypto.news, each applicant will be judged on consumer protection, how it keeps customer assets safe, market integrity, and financial resilience. The FCA emphasizes that approval is not automatic, with firms that fall short being refused. An existing anti-money laundering registration will not convert into a license - every firm must apply from scratch. The rules reach beyond exchanges to cover firms that hold coins for customers, stablecoin issuers, and companies that arrange staking. Dominic Cashman, director of authorization at the FCA, stated that the new crypto regime will give consumers greater protections and firms a clear framework to operate in.
The FCA has published a 73-page preview of the application form dated September 17, covering business plans, controls and financial forecasts. According to Crypto.news, the preview asks for far more than a company name and anti-money laundering registration number. A firm must identify what it actually does, which regulated permissions correspond to each service, who controls it, how customer assets and complaints are handled and how it will meet relevant financial and operational standards. The application requires controllers and close links, an organisational chart, a regulatory business plan, projected income for FCA fees, financial forecasts and information about IT systems. Customer asset protection will form part of that assessment for businesses providing custody services, with the regulator examining firms against standards covering safeguarding, financial resources and their ability to operate within conduct requirements. Applicants will need to provide information beyond the controls required for the existing anti-money laundering registration system, covering areas including business plans, governance, IT systems, financial crime controls, compliance monitoring and complaints procedures.
The five-month application window precedes the new regulatory framework's planned introduction in October 2027, after years of legislative development. As reported by Crypto.news, more than 60 companies already registered under the FCA's anti-money-laundering regime may have a head start in meeting the new licensing requirements. One of these companies is Zumo, a crypto infrastructure platform which won registration in 2021. The Edinburgh-based firm has built a 'UK Cryptoasset Regulation Tracker', telling firms what the rules will require them to do and mapping timelines for regulatory milestones. Nick Jones, founder and CEO of Zumo, stated that the company is developing its tracker as industry operators rather than law firms or consultancies, having read the regime rules right down to the level of every individual obligation and mapping each one to the regulated activity it attaches to. The FCA expects to determine applications submitted during the window before October 25, 2027, but filing does not amount to approval. Each applicant will still need to satisfy the regulator's authorization standards, with the distinction being particularly important for firms whose applications remain unresolved when the rules take effect.
