UK opens the application window for crypto firms

Crypto firms that want to keep operating in the UK now have a deadline. The Financial Conduct Authority opened its authorization gateway for cryptoasset firms on September 30, and the window closes on February 28, 2027.

The new regime itself begins on October 25, 2027, FinTech Weekly reports. The requirement is wider than it may first appear. It covers firms that today are registered with the FCA only under the money laundering rules, as well as payment and e-money firms that are adding crypto activities to what they already do. An existing registration does not carry over.

The consequences of missing the window are specific. A firm that applies late may continue to serve existing contracts but cannot take on new customers. A firm that does not apply at all must wind down its UK crypto business before the regime starts. Either outcome hands customers to competitors that filed on time.

Five months is not long to prepare a full authorization application, and firms that have treated UK registration as a light arrangement will find this a larger exercise. The number of applications the FCA receives by the end of February, and how many it goes on to approve, will show how much of the current market intends to stay.