The FCA opened its gateway to full crypto authorisation today, promising that getting through 'is not automatic'. Its own figures on the lighter-touch scheme this one replaces show 83 of every 100 applicants that got an answer were turned away or gave up.
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
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In short. From 30 September 2026, crypto firms can apply for full FCA authorisation under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2026 [1], made by the Treasury on 4 February 2026 [6]. The FCA's launch announcement says "authorisation is not automatic" [1]. Its own published determination data for the anti-money-laundering registration scheme this new regime replaces shows that, of every 100 applications it has actually decided since January 2020, only 17 ended in registration; 67 were withdrawn, 12 rejected and 4 refused [3]. The announcement does not mention this record, drops the old scheme's 3-month decision deadline with nothing stated in its place [4], and promises global trust while its own regime policy statement admits the market will stay "comparatively higher risk" than any other the FCA oversees [5]. Three documented mistakes: four stars.
A gateway years in the making
The FCA's press release is dated 30 September 2026 and opens plainly: "From today, crypto firms can apply for authorisation from the FCA, marking a landmark moment as the UK takes a step closer towards becoming one of the most trusted places in the world to build and invest in cryptoasset businesses" [1]. For the first time, firms providing cryptoasset services in the UK face full FCA regulation: conduct, prudential capital rules, market abuse monitoring and the Consumer Duty, not just the anti-money-laundering checks that have applied since 2020 [1]. The legal basis is the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2026, made by the Treasury on 4 February 2026 under powers in section 21 of the 2000 Act [6], the instrument that brings cryptoasset activities within the FCA's regulatory perimeter for the first time. The FCA's own regime hub describes "more than 3 years of intensive work: listening to industry, engaging with consumers, collaborating with international partners" behind it, built on 4 discussion papers and 10 consultation papers [5].
The timetable is specific and already running. Pre-application support opened in July 2026; the policy statements that set the final rules were published over the summer; the application window itself opened on 30 September 2026 and closes on 28 February 2027; the full regime is due to come into force on 25 October 2027 [2]. Firms with an application still undetermined when the regime starts can keep operating while the FCA decides; those that have not applied, or that are refused, cannot [1]. "Authorisation is not automatic," the release says. "Firms will need to clearly demonstrate that they meet the FCA's requirements, and those that cannot show the necessary standards will not be authorised to operate in the UK market" [1]. Dominic Cashman, the FCA's director of authorisation, is quoted promising "a clear framework to operate in" [1]. None of this is contestable as a description of what the new regime requires. What the release leaves out is what the FCA's own record says about how firms have fared the last time it ran a gate this shape.
The claims, tested
| The claim | What the FCA's own published record shows | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| "Authorisation is not automatic... those that cannot show the necessary standards will not be authorised to operate in the UK market" [1] | The FCA's own data page for the anti-money-laundering registration scheme it has run since 10 January 2020, the narrower bar the new authorisation regime supersedes, shows 391 applications determined as at 1 September 2026: 68 registered (17%), 263 withdrawn (67%), 46 rejected (12%), 14 refused (4%) [3] | True, and understated: 83 in every 100 decided applications under the lighter test did not end in approval. The release gives no reason to expect the broader regime, testing prudential capital and market conduct the AML-only scheme never touched, to clear more |
| "...the UK takes a step closer towards becoming one of the most trusted places in the world to build and invest in cryptoasset businesses" [1] | The FCA's own policy statement for the same regime says: "The relative nascence of cryptoasset markets means that some residual market abuse risk is likely to remain higher than in more established markets... cryptoasset markets are likely to remain comparatively higher risk" [5] | The press office and the policy desk are not telling the same story. One promises trust without qualification; the other, published under the same programme, states the sector will carry permanently higher risk than anything else the FCA regulates |
| "The FCA expects to determine applications submitted during the application period before the new regime comes into force" [1] | No number of months is attached to that expectation beyond the 13-month window to 25 October 2027. The FCA's own guidance for the scheme being replaced states a concrete figure: "At the point that we have all the information we need to make a determination, we have 3 months to come to a decision on your application" [4] | The one firm-facing timeliness commitment in the old regime does not appear in the new one. Applicants are told what the bar is, not how long they will wait to clear it |
A record the FCA could have cited and did not
The determination figures are not buried. They sit on the FCA's own "who needs to register" page, in a table headed "Determinations," refreshed monthly and broken down by outcome: registered, rejected, withdrawn, refused [3]. The same page explains why withdrawal, not rejection, is the dominant outcome: firms pull their own applications after "not being able to show that you meet the required standards at the point of submission" or on "understanding that registration is likely to be refused" [3]. That is the FCA's own description of a scheme working as a filter well before a formal refusal notice is ever issued. It is also exactly the kind of track record a launch announcement promising rigour would normally cite in its own favour. The press release's "Notes to editors" section runs to six short points, none of them a number [1].
The gap matters because the new authorisation regime is not a continuation of the old registration scheme, it is a harder version sitting on top of it. Firms already registered under the money laundering regulations still have to apply afresh for the full regime [1], this time against prudential capital rules, market abuse monitoring and the Consumer Duty that the AML-only check never tested [5]. A scheme that cleared 17 in 100 decided applicants under the easier test is the floor this announcement is building on, not a historical footnote unrelated to it.
Credit where due
The transparency that makes this comparison possible is the FCA's own. Few regulators this site has examined publish monthly, outcome-by-outcome determination data for an authorisation gate at all, let alone with exact counts and percentages going back to the scheme's first month in January 2020 [3]. The transitional arrangement is also a genuine design choice in firms' favour: an applicant whose case is still open when the new regime starts on 25 October 2027 keeps trading while it waits, rather than facing a cliff-edge shutdown the day the clock runs out [1]. And the underlying legal basis is a single, traceable instrument, not a patchwork of guidance: the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2026, made on a specific date under a specific statutory power [6].
Three documented mistakes. (1) The press release calls authorisation "not automatic" without mentioning that the FCA's own published data for the lighter-touch scheme it replaces shows 83 in every 100 decided applicants since 2020 did not end in registration. (2) The release's unqualified promise of global trust and legitimacy sits alongside the FCA's own regime policy statement, which states cryptoasset markets will remain "comparatively higher risk" than other regulated sectors indefinitely. (3) The release describes an expectation to decide applications before October 2027 but states no number of months, dropping the 3-month decision deadline that applied under the scheme being replaced. Rated four stars out of five.
Sources
- FCA opens the gateway to regulated crypto (FCA press release, 30 September 2026)
- Cryptoassets information: key milestones (FCA)
- Who needs to register: determinations data (FCA)
- How to apply for registration (FCA)
- The cryptoasset regime: policy statements (FCA)
- The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2026 (legislation.gov.uk)