UK Cryptoasset Regulatory Tracker

On 8 January 2026, the FCA published various updates on its website, including that the gateway for firms seeking approval under the future regulatory regime for cryptoasset activities will open in September 2026. Many stakeholders had expected that the FCA would not open the gateway until close to the commencement of the new regime (25 October 2027), which would have allowed time for firms to prepare and submit applications in an orderly fashion.

As part of these updates, the FCA published the following webpages:

1. Cryptoassets: How the gateway will operate
2. Cryptoassets: The transitional provision
3. Cryptoasset firms: Authorisation, supervision, and enforcement
4. Cryptoasset regulated activities: FSMA and the FCA Handbook
5. Cryptoassets: Our standards

For further detail on the gateway, please see this Latham blog post.

On 16 December 2025, the FCA published the following three key consultation papers as a part of its Crypto Roadmap:

1. CP25/40 – Regulating Cryptoasset Activities
   Covers rules and guidance for new regulated activities, including operating trading platforms, intermediaries, lending and borrowing, staking, and the approach to decentralised finance. CP25/40 follows on from DP25/1 Regulating cryptoasset activities (trading platforms, intermediation, lending and staking) (May 2025).
2. CP25/41 – Admissions & Disclosures and Market Abuse Regime
   Proposes requirements to strengthen market integrity, improve transparency at admission to trading, and tackle abusive practices such as insider dealing and market manipulation. CP25/41 follows on from DP24/4 Regulating cryptoassets – Admissions & Disclosures and Market Abuse Regime for Cryptoassets (December 2024).
3. CP25/42 – Prudential Regime for Cryptoasset Firms
   Sets out capital, liquidity, and risk management requirements to ensure financial resilience and consumer protection for firms conducting regulated cryptoasset activities. This is the FCA’s second consultation paper on prudential standards and followson from CP25/15 (May 2025) which proposed prudential rules for stablecoin issuers and cryptoasset safeguarding firms.

On 2 December 2025, the UK Parliament enacted the Property (Digital Assets etc) Act 2025. The Act confirms that “a thing (including a thing that is digital or electronic in nature) is not prevented from being the object or personal property rights merely because it is neither – (a) a thing in possession, nor (b) a thing in action.” Accordingly, the position that cryptoassets can amount to personal property is now enshrined in statute.

On 26 November 2025, the FCA published a press release on its website that it has launched a special cohort within its Regulatory Sandbox for firms issuing stablecoins. Issuers that wish to test their product with live customers (rather than using firm data) would need to be registered with the FCA for anti-money laudering purposes. If the issuer wish to offer fiat payment services, they will need permissions under the Payment Services Regulations. Applications are due by Sunday 18 January 2026, 11.59 pm. 

On 10 November 2025, the Bank of England (BoE) published a consultation paper setting out its proposed regime for sterling-denominated systemic stablecoins, providing clarity on categorisation, holding limits, and redemption. The consultation paper focuses on possible future use of such stablecoins in real-world payments and settlements — not their current use to buy and sell cryptoassets — as well as the issuance of such stablecoin by non-banks. 

The consultation paper also addresses various proposed rules and revisions to policy proposals including those relating to backing assets, capital and reserve requirements, holding limits, legal claim, and redemptions, etc.

The consultation paper follows on from the BoE’s November 2023 discussion paper on the regulatory regime for systemic payment systems using stablecoins and related service providers.