coindesk.com
The U.K.'s financial regulator said companies looking to offer crypto-related services in the country will need to be authorized under new rules that take effect in October 2027.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said the requirement also applies to companies that are already registered as crypto companies under its money laundering regulations (MLRs). The authority awarded Ripple, the developer and issuer of payments token XRP, MLR registration on Friday.
The FCA will started accepting applications in September, it said in a Thursday notice on its website. The road to formal regulation of cryptocurrency in the U.K. became clearer at the end of 2025 with legislation from the Treasury that extended existing financial rules to cover crypto companies.
Supplementing the legislation, the FCA started a consultation to seek feedback on the proposed rules under the new framework, extending to areas such as listing tokens, standards for exchanges, requirements for brokers, lending and borrowing and decentralized finance (DeFi).