Britain's FCA opens a four-week consultation on how regulated firms may use DeFi, a year before its new crypto regime takes effect on October 25, 2027

Britain's markets regulator has started to spell out how the firms it supervises can touch decentralised finance. The Financial Conduct Authority published GC26/7, a guidance consultation on decentralised finance, on October 21, 2026, and is taking responses until November 18. It plans to publish final guidance in January 2027.

The document is what the FCA calls non-Handbook guidance. It focuses on two areas the FCA says DeFi can put under strain, operational resilience and financial crime, and it applies to firms subject to the Money Laundering Regulations. It is aimed at firms already within the FCA's operational resilience and financial crime rules, though the regulator says others who interact with DeFi may find it useful. "Firms using DeFi should do so safely and responsibly, as with other technologies," the FCA writes. Cointelegraph reported the FCA described the guidance as seeking to clarify existing rules rather than establish new policy, and that the UK Cryptoasset Business Council urged the FCA to strike a balance between clear rules and room for innovation, saying the regulator needs to get it right.

The timing matters. The FCA says the new cryptoasset perimeter, created by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2026, takes effect on October 25, 2027, and it asks firms to read the DeFi guidance alongside its separate perimeter consultation, CP26/36. Cointelegraph noted the FCA opened its authorisation window for crypto firms on September 30.

What to watch next: the November 18 deadline, the final guidance in January 2027, and the October 2027 start of the full regime.