UK FCA finally tells crypto firms: get licensed, get serious, get in line by 2027 🏛️

The UK's Financial Conduct Authority has published its final crypto regulatory framework, completing its roadmap to bring digital assets under the regulator's purview, according to a Tuesday press release shared with Cointelegraph. The licensing window for crypto companies will open from September until Feb. 28, 2027, before the regime goes live on Oct. 25, 2027. Under the new rules, trading platforms, custodians, stablecoin issuers, staking companies and other intermediaries must obtain FCA authorization to operate in the UK. David Geale, executive director of payments and digital finance at the FCA, said the agency had "created a framework that doesn't force firms to choose between regulatory certainty and room to innovate — this regime means they can have both in a stable, competitive home to build and grow."

The framework introduces mandatory licensing for crypto firms, capital stress-testing requirements, and improved market manipulation and insider trading rules. Crypto companies in the UK will be held to "similar standards" as other financial service providers in the country, according to Geale. Firms with existing authorization under the money laundering regulations will not have their licenses automatically converted and will need to obtain new authorization. Certain companies already operating in the UK may continue specified activities for a limited period under the framework's transitional "savings provisions" while they apply. Pre-application support meetings will be available starting next month, and the FCA will host a webinar on July 17 covering its policy statements, with a further policy statement due in September on how the regulatory perimeter applies to cryptoasset activities.

For stablecoins, the FCA kept the core framework while making targeted adjustments, including simplifying backing-asset composition by no longer requiring estimated redemption forecasts, adding requirements for statutory trust over reserves, and removing unallocated backing fund accounts. Issuers must offer specific withdrawal rights to users, may hold up to a 5% excess in the backing asset pool, and can use limited intragroup custody subject to safeguards. The FCA described this as a "baseline regime for stablecoin issuance" and signaled that tailored guidance for decentralized finance is forthcoming. The publication comes nearly a month after the regulator closed its consultation window on the guidelines for the country's future crypto regime on June 3.