Updated 8 August 2026 · FSMA cryptoasset regime · SI 2026/102 · PS26/9–13
The FCA's authorisation gateway for cryptoasset firms opens at 09:00 on 30 September 2026 and closes at 23:59 on 28 February 2027. Full commencement of the regime is 25 October 2027. These dates are set in the FCA's statutory direction under regulation 52.
You do not simply stop. Miss the application period and, by operation of law, you enter the transitional provision: run-off only. You may service pre-existing contracts, but you cannot take on new UK customers or enter new contracts with existing ones. For most business models that is a commercial death — and because it is quiet rather than a hard stop, it is harder for a board to see coming. Applying late (after 28 February but before 25 October 2027) does not get you the reg 53 saving provision, and the FCA has said it will not expedite a late application.
There is no automatic transition from Money Laundering Regulations registration to FSMA authorisation. The FCA states this in terms: MLR-registered firms must secure FSMA authorisation, and an MLR application form cannot be treated as an FSMA application. Roughly half of the firms the FCA expects in scope have no FSMA authorisation experience at all.
Old Article 40 covered safeguarding and administering investments. The new Article 9N covers safeguarding alone — control sufficient to bring about a transfer of a client's cryptoasset. Firms that were never authorised under Article 40, because they safeguard but do not administer, are caught by 9N and need authorisation. "We were out of scope before" does not hold. The custody perimeter got wider.
The FCA tells firms, in its published preparation guidance, to "carry out a gap analysis" against the expected FSMA requirements and to develop a board-approved implementation plan. It also runs a free Pre-Application Support Service (PASS) — but it will reject a PASS request that does not come with a meaningful analysis of the regulated activities you intend to apply for. The paid analysis is what gets you through the free door.
The FCA's own cost-benefit analysis estimates about 325 firms in scope — 240 of them "small" — against roughly 48 currently on the MLR register. Most have not started. The window is about 22 weeks.
48-Hour Gap Check on your entity (USD 500)
Positions here are drawn from PS26/9–13 and legislation.gov.uk; some conclusions (e.g. the Overseas Persons Exclusion) are our reading of the consolidated legislation and warrant a legal opinion. Not legal advice, not a filing service. TK Global OS — Okinawa, Japan.