The UK's Financial Conduct Authority has reopened its authorisation gateway for crypto-asset firms, resuming the formal pipeline for UK-domiciled companies to obtain regulatory registration, The TRADE reported.

The move ends what had become an effective freeze on new crypto authorisations, with immediate operational consequences for firms waiting on registration before launching products, opening UK bank accounts, or onboarding institutional counterparties.

What is the FCA's crypto registration regime?

The FCA has served as the UK's anti-money laundering supervisor for crypto-asset businesses since January 2020, when crypto-asset exchange providers and custodian wallet providers were brought within scope of the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017. Firms carrying on those regulated activities in the UK must register with the FCA before operating.

In a parallel track, the FCA took over supervision of crypto-asset financial promotions under rules that took full effect in October 2023, requiring firms marketing to UK retail consumers to ensure communications were fair, clear and not misleading, and that they were approved by an authorised firm.

The reopened authorisation gateway, the specific procedural mechanics of which The TRADE's headline announcement does not enumerate, signals that the regulator has begun active processing again after an extended pause. During the freeze, firms could submit registration forms but received no formal determinations, and the backlog of pending files reportedly stretched into dozens — with some applicants reportedly waiting more than two years for a response.

What changes for UK crypto-asset firms?

FCA registration under the MLRs is the precondition for UK crypto businesses to operate lawfully and is routinely treated by counterparties as a gating requirement:

• UK banks conducting counterparty due diligence on crypto clients
• Payment firms gating access to settlement rails
• Institutional clients seeking regulatory standing on their counterparties

The resumption gives compliance teams a working timeline for anti-money laundering onboarding, financial promotions approvals, and Senior Managers and Certification Regime sign-offs. For firms that had paused product launches pending authorisation, the active processing window offers a route to convert dormant applications into live registrations.

Registered crypto-asset businesses also remain subject to the FCA's broader supervisory expectations, including standards on operational resilience, financial crime systems and controls, and the consumer duty where regulated financial services are provided alongside crypto activity.

Separately, the UK Treasury and the FCA have been progressing work on a fuller statutory framework under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order that, if enacted, would bring crypto trading platforms, certain intermediaries, qualifying stablecoin issuance, and crypto-asset staking activities into direct FCA authorisation — distinct from the MLR registration route.

What does the reopening leave unresolved?

The reopened gateway addresses the MLR pipeline but not the boundaries of substantive market-conduct regulation for crypto in the UK. Until broader FSMA-based rules are finalised and consulted upon, registered firms will continue to operate under a regime calibrated primarily to anti-money laundering and financial promotions rather than full conduct supervision.

For incumbent banks, the change reduces one layer of regulatory uncertainty around onboarding crypto clients, although non-regulatory credit and reputational scrutiny has continued to constrain UK banking relationships for crypto firms since at least 2023.

The near-term test is whether the FCA can clear the existing backlog without reimposing a standstill, and whether the reopened channel materially eases the de-banking pressure that has shaped UK crypto firms' operational decisions over the past two years.