The Financial Conduct Authority opens its cryptoasset authorisation gateway on 30 September 2026, and the regime goes live on 25 October 2027. That second date is not a forecast: regulation 1(2) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2026 calls it the “full commencement day”. What it will not do is get your coins back if the firm holding them fails.
Nine activities become regulated, among them operating a qualifying cryptoasset trading platform, dealing as principal or agent, arranging deals, safeguarding cryptoassets, issuing qualifying stablecoin and qualifying cryptoasset staking. Firms doing any of them for UK consumers need authorisation.
| Financial promotions regime in force | 8 October 2023 |
| SI 2026/102 made by the Treasury | 4 February 2026 |
| Final rules published (PS26/9 to PS26/13) | 30 June 2026 |
| Authorisation gateway opens | 30 September 2026 |
| Application window closes | 28 February 2027 |
| MLR registration unlikely to be determined in time after | 31 July 2027 |
| Full commencement | 25 October 2027 |
| Maximum transitional run-off | two years |
| Perimeter guidance | still in draft |
Registration and authorisation are not the same thing
A firm on the FCA’s existing cryptoasset register cleared an anti-money-laundering check and nothing else. No conduct assessment, no prudential assessment, no view on how it treats customers. The FCA is explicit that “being registered under the MLRs does not guarantee authorisation under FSMA”, and that there is no automatic conversion.
A firm advertising itself as FCA registered today is saying less than most readers assume. That gap is what the new regime closes.
What it genuinely adds
Authorised firms come under the threshold conditions, which require a UK head office of firms that choose to incorporate here, the Principles for Businesses, the Senior Managers and Certification Regime, a bespoke prudential regime, and the Consumer Duty, which PS26/13 confirms applies in full subject to limited exemptions. They also fall under the Financial Ombudsman Service’s compulsory jurisdiction.
That is a real change: an ombudsman that can order redress from a firm that mistreated you is more than the register ever offered.
Complaints, yes. Compensation, no. The asymmetry is deliberate and it is the part worth remembering.
What it does not do
It does not extend the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. PS26/13 confirms the FCA does not plan to extend FSCS cover to the new cryptoasset activities, though a firm may still be within scope for other business it is authorised for, including other custody assets it safeguards. The FCA’s own Financial Services Consumer Panel argued against that and lost. On the crypto side an authorised firm can still fail and take customer assets with it, and no scheme stands behind the loss.
Nor does it touch price. The Ombudsman can look at a firm that broke the rules, not a coin that fell. The FCA’s line has not moved: “If you decide to invest in crypto then you should be prepared to lose all your money.”
It is separate, too, from the financial promotions regime of October 2023, which governs how crypto is advertised rather than who may run the business. A firm can be compliant on promotions and entirely unassessed on custody.
And it does not reopen retail access to crypto derivatives, which remain banned. The one relaxation came earlier: since 8 October 2025 retail investors may buy cryptoasset exchange traded notes, but only those traded on a UK recognised investment exchange. The FCA said then that there would be no FSCS cover for those either.
If you are not a firm
Ordinary holders are not caught. The FCA’s draft perimeter guidance says individuals trading periodically on their own account “would not generally be expected to require authorisation solely by reason of making such trades”, and puts technical services generally outside the perimeter: running a validator node is unlikely, on its own, to amount to arranging staking. Go beyond the technical — a dashboard, compounded rewards, recommending validators — and the draft pulls you back in.
Two caveats. That guidance closed for consultation on 3 June 2026 and is not final, so it is proposal rather than settled law. And it is written around staking; we found no primary source addressing proof-of-work mining, so do not read the validator wording across to a rig without advice.
The practical consequence is narrower than the coverage suggests. Some overseas platforms will decide the UK is not worth the application and will run off their books over up to two years, unable to write new contracts even with existing customers. If your exchange is not authorised by late 2027, the question is where your coins go, not whether you are compensated.
Sources, retrieved 7 September 2026: the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/102, regulation 1, via legislation.gov.uk; FCA pages on the new regime, the gateway, transitional provision, standards, MLR registration and the Handbook activity list; PS26/9 to PS26/13, in particular PS26/13 chapter 12 on the Ombudsman and the FSCS; CP26/13, closed 3 June 2026; the Financial Services Consumer Panel response to CP26/4; Handbook COBS 22.6 from 8 October 2025; InvestSmart; press releases of 1 August 2025 and 30 June 2026. Contested: the FCA says the regime “is expected to” commence on 25 October 2027 while the instrument states it flatly, and instruments can be amended; perimeter guidance is draft, so the last section is proposal, not law; the FCA’s standards page still says it is considering whether the Consumer Duty applies, which PS26/13 supersedes; and no sunset date is published for MLR registration. PS26/13 citations are by topic, not pinpoint. Not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold anything, and not legal or financial advice.