The UK Financial Conduct Authority opened its authorization gateway for the country's new cryptoasset regime on Sept. 30, 2026, giving existing firms until Feb. 28, 2027 to file applications that preserve their ability to take on new UK business while decisions are pending. The full regime commences Oct. 25, 2027, according to the FCA's announcement and the underlying statutory instrument.

The February date is not a shutdown deadline for crypto services. It marks the cutoff for qualifying for the saving provision, a temporary protection for applicants whose files remain undecided when the regime begins.

For eligible firms that apply within the window, an undecided application at commencement allows the activities covered by that application to continue — including new business. The scope matters: the protection attaches to the regulated activities named in the filing, not to a platform's full service catalog. Submitting an application does not guarantee authorization.

The statutory saving chapter, set out in the 2026 regulations, expires two years after full commencement. It can also cover a refusal that remains open to review. The FCA retains the power to direct such a firm into restricted run-off where necessary for criminal enforcement, consumer protection or the pursuit of its statutory objectives.

Late applicants face a harder path

Platforms can still apply after February. But a late applicant that files before commencement and awaits a decision on Oct. 25, 2027 enters the transitional provision while the FCA assesses its case, under the regulator's published gateway rules. A late applicant that secures authorization before commencement avoids the pending-application restriction entirely.

The transitional route permits newly regulated activities only to the extent necessary to perform contracts entered into before the firm entered transition. It prohibits new contracts with both existing and new UK customers. Holding an account with a platform does not, by itself, preserve access to new business under this provision.

Run-off arrangements last a maximum of two years. Firms must notify the FCA and parties to existing contracts, and customer notices must state that the firm lacks the relevant authorization and whether asset protection, dispute resolution or compensation arrangements have materially changed.

A firm with in-scope business that does not apply before commencement must complete its UK run-off beforehand. The FCA will treat an application rejected for missing minimum information as no application at all unless the firm subsequently submits a valid one.

Scope and permissions

For crypto providers, the relevant activities under the new regime include operating trading platforms, dealing and arranging transactions, and custody. Overseas firms serving UK consumers can also fall within scope, though the territorial rules carry specific intermediary and custody exceptions.

Existing anti-money-laundering registration does not automatically convert into authorization. Firms already authorized under the Financial Services and Markets Act for other activities must vary their permissions to undertake the new crypto activities. An existing registration therefore does not settle whether a provider will hold the required permission, qualify for pending-application protection, or be restricted to run-off when October 2027 arrives.

The operational consequences are concrete. Firms that miss the February window and remain pending at commencement effectively freeze their UK book: no new customers, no new contracts for existing ones, and a two-year clock on winding down in-scope relationships. Early applicants retain commercial optionality while the FCA works through what is expected to be a substantial queue.

Firms now face a sequence of hard dates: Feb. 28, 2027 for protected-window eligibility, Oct. 25, 2027 for full commencement, and the two-year expiry of both the saving provision and any run-off arrangement thereafter.