FCA defines seven crypto activities; applications open Sept 2026

The Financial Conduct Authority launched a consultation that sets out seven cryptoasset activities that will require UK authorization. The guidance identifies stablecoin issuance, trading venues, custody and safeguarding, dealing, advising and staking. Applications for authorization open in September 2026 and the full regime takes effect in October 2027.

The consultation explains how services that handle, trade or issue cryptoassets will be brought into scope and aims to help firms determine whether they fall inside the regulator’s activity-based perimeter. The FCA said the guidance is part of a wider programme to expand oversight beyond financial promotions and anti-money-laundering rules to include conduct, consumer protection and ongoing supervision.

Under the draft rules, firms operating trading venues, custody and safeguarding services, dealing in and advising on cryptoassets, stablecoin issuance and staking will need to be authorized and supervised. The FCA said it will publish further guidance later this year on decentralized finance and on operational resilience for firms using distributed ledger technology, and it will update its Financial Crime Guide for crypto businesses.

Yuriy Brisov, partner at Digital & Analogue Partners, described the framework as an ‘activity-based perimeter’ and said, ‘It is drafted around intermediated models: issuers, custodians, venues, staking providers, rather than around protocol-level functions.’ He added the proposals reuse regulatory tools such as authorization, prudential capital requirements, conduct rules and market-abuse surveillance, with a focus on custody integrity, anti-money-laundering and market abuse.

Parliamentary changes passed in February gave the FCA the legal powers to bring crypto activities into the UK regulatory remit. The consultation closes on June 3. The FCA expects to publish final rules this summer and additional guidance in the autumn.

Firms, including overseas operators serving UK customers, will need to reassess legal structures, custody arrangements and compliance frameworks ahead of the September 2026 application window. Entities authorized under the new rules must comply with the full regime from October 2027.