The news
The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) opened its crypto authorisation gateway on September 30, 2026, allowing cryptoasset firms to apply for permission to operate under the country's new regulatory regime. The regulator said the application period runs until February 28, 2027.
The new regime comes into force on October 25, 2027, according to the FCA. Firms will be assessed against standards on consumer protection, safeguarding of customer assets, market integrity and financial resilience.
The FCA said firms that cannot meet those standards will not be authorised and will not be able to continue offering regulated cryptoasset services in the UK. Existing firms that apply during the application period may keep operating and taking new business while their applications are assessed, if decisions have not been made before the regime starts, the regulator said.
Dominic Cashman, the FCA's director of authorisation, said the regime will give consumers greater protections and firms a clear framework, and that firms can now apply and start preparing for regulation.
On a separate page describing how the gateway will operate, the FCA said applications submitted after February 28, 2027 but before the regime starts would fall under a transitional provision, but that it would not speed up its assessment of late applications. Firms that neither apply nor wind down their business risk carrying on unauthorised activity and enforcement action under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA), the regulator said.
The FCA is offering pre-application support meetings and on-demand webinars to firms preparing submissions.
The numbers
- Application window opened
- September 30, 2026
- Application window closes
- February 28, 2027
- Regime comes into force
- October 25, 2027
Why CEOs should care
For executives at US crypto exchanges, custodians and payment firms with UK customers, the clock has started. Applying within the window is what preserves the ability to keep operating while the FCA decides. Boards should ask management for a dated plan to file before February 28, 2027, and for a fallback plan to wind down UK services if authorisation looks unlikely.
The four assessment areas map directly to operating questions. CFOs should test capital and liquidity against financial resilience expectations; CISOs and custody teams should document how customer assets are segregated and protected; and compliance leaders should show market abuse monitoring. Weak applications are a real risk, since the FCA has said firms that fall short will not be authorised.
For banks, payment providers and asset managers that partner with crypto firms, authorisation status will become a basic due diligence item. Procurement and risk teams should start asking partners whether and when they have applied.
The bigger picture
The UK is moving from registration under anti-money laundering rules to full authorisation of crypto activities under FSMA, the same law that governs mainstream financial services. A live licensing process in a major financial center gives crypto firms a defined route in, and puts the UK framework in competition with other jurisdictions that are still building their own rules, including the United States.
What’s next
Watch how many firms apply before February 28, 2027, how quickly the FCA issues decisions ahead of October 25, 2027, and whether large global exchanges publicly confirm their filings. Firms that miss the window will face the slower path the FCA has described.
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