Invest1 publisher2 min readPublished
FCA opens crypto authorisation 390 days before the regime takes effect
The UK regulator has fixed the calendar for crypto authorisation. It says it will consult next month on updating the very perimeter guidance it has just published to help firms get ready.
The Investor · Invest desk
What happened
- Applications for authorisation under the UK's new crypto regime open from 30 September 2026. The regime itself comes into force on 25 October 2027.
- The FCA finalised the rules and guidance underpinning the regime in June 2026. It has now published guidance telling firms how the regime applies to their activities.
- The Government has since amended the legislation with limited exclusions and clarifications for certain technical services providers, and the FCA says the changes will not affect most crypto firms.
- The FCA is running pre-application support meetings and webinars, with the next sessions covering applying the FCA handbook, and getting authorised and the prudential framework.
Compiled by The InvestorSomething wrong?How this is made
Why it matters
- decision Firms whose activity sits in one of the six areas the FCA will consult on have a choice. File at the opening of the gateway against guidance that may change, or wait for the updated text.
- cost Authorisation work has to be paid for out of the firm's operating budget in the 2026 and 2027 budget years. The permission it buys has no commercial effect until the regime is live.
- capability A pre-application meeting lets a firm test its business model against the FCA's view before it commits to a legal structure. The price is showing the regulator the model ahead of any filing.
- exposure Technology providers and decentralised protocol operators whose position depends on the new exclusions are exposed to whatever October's consultation does to the wording of those exclusions.
The gap between the two dates is 390 days [9]. The gap between the gateway opening and the FCA reopening its own guidance is much shorter. Applications start on 30 September 2026 [1]. The consultation on targeted updates to the perimeter guidance comes in October [5], the month that begins the next day [14].
The two lists overlap. The guidance published now covers issuing qualifying stablecoins, operating cryptoasset trading platforms, dealing and arranging deals, safeguarding cryptoassets and arranging cryptoasset staking [3]. The October consultation covers UK qualifying stablecoins, proprietary trading and market making, certain technology providers, decentralised protocols, safeguarding arrangements involving central securities depositaries and financial promotions [5]. Stablecoin issuance and safeguarding sit on both [10].
The Government set out the legislation bringing cryptoassets into UK regulation in February 2026 [11], about 20 months before the regime binds [12]. David Geale, the FCA's executive director of consumers, payments and competition, said: "This guidance gives firms the clarity they've asked for so they can prepare with confidence." [7]
For a firm that custodies and trades, the calendar is a budget line. For a firm running its own book as a market maker, or operating something that answers to the description of a decentralised protocol, the scope of the perimeter is not settled until the October consultation is resolved [5]. The FCA did not give a date for the final updated guidance [15].
There are two ways this runs from here. If October's changes turn out narrow, filing on day one costs little and buys queue position, and the 390 days become a scheduling exercise [9]. If they do not, the firms in those six named areas hold back and the applications compress into 2027 against a fixed 25 October date [1]. On the evidence I would expect the second, because proprietary trading, market making and decentralised protocols are on the consultation list [5] and those are whole business models. One thing settles it the other way: an October consultation with a short closing date and final text published early enough for a firm to file against it in 2026.
What to watch
- The October consultation text, and whether the exclusions for technology providers and decentralised protocols are as limited as the FCA describes.
- Whether the FCA publishes a closing date and final updated perimeter guidance in time for firms to file in 2026.
- Application volumes and processing times once the gateway opens on 30 September 2026.