FCA Raids Three More London P2P Crypto Spots — Still Zero Registered 🪤

The UK's Financial Conduct Authority carried out a second coordinated operation against peer-to-peer crypto traders in London on September 10, issuing cease-and-desist notices at three premises alongside HM Revenue & Customs and the Metropolitan Police, the regulator said Wednesday. The action was conducted under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds Regulations 2017 and follows a first sweep in April, whose evidence the FCA said is now supporting criminal investigations.

The FCA said it targeted three premises suspected of illegal peer-to-peer crypto trading by individuals operating by way of business in the UK, and stressed that no peer-to-peer crypto businesses are currently registered with the regulator. Under the rules, anyone buying and selling crypto directly with others as a business in the UK must be registered, meaning every such operation in the country is unregistered by definition.

The regulator framed the enforcement as part of an effort to close a channel it says criminals exploit to move and launder illicit funds. "Anyone running an unregistered peer-to-peer crypto business should assume we are looking at them," said Steve Smart, the FCA's executive director of enforcement and market oversight. Detective Sergeant Sathish Alalasundaram of the Met pointed to the practical difficulty, noting that the complexity of crypto and "the speed at which funds can be moved across jurisdictions presents ongoing challenges for those investigating," and adding that the force is adapting its disruption tactics as criminals adapt theirs.

The FCA has previously prosecuted in this area, securing a four-year sentence for Olumide Osunkoya over an unlawful crypto ATM network and supporting the arrest of two people suspected of running an illegal exchange. Crypto remains largely unregulated in Britain aside from anti-money-laundering rules and financial promotions, which is why the operations run under the 2017 legislation rather than any crypto-specific framework. That framework is set to change on October 25, 2027, when the FCA's new regime takes effect, with applications for authorization opening on September 30.