UK Businesses must prepare now for new cryptoasset regime rules

Artur Vorobyev, Director, said:

On the eve of the stablecoins Unblocked 2026 conference, the FCA has published its final rules for the UK crypto-asset regime. This will support market confidence and institutional adoption, but compliance requirements will be raised significantly in line with mainstream financial services. The rules will come into place on 25th October 2027, but businesses should ensure they compliant well in advance

Crypto-assets are a digital representation of value that can be transferred and stored electronically. Unlike money stored digitally in a bank account, they operate on a decentralized, digital ledger called a blockchain.

Businesses who don’t comply with the FCA risk penalties, and there is no maximum cap on fines for corporate non-compliance. Crypto businesses will need to demonstrate that they have strong governance, financial and operational resilience, market abuse controls, authorisation readiness, custody and safeguarding controls, reconciliations and financial crime frameworks – none of which can be rushed into place at the last minute.

For stablecoin issuers in particular, confidence in backing assets, redemption arrangements, transparency and controls will be critical. stablecoins are crypto-assets backed by real-world assets, such as the US dollar, to keep their value stable.

Artur concluded:

The FCA’s decision is positive step for the UK digital assets market as it brings crypto and stablecoin activities much closer to the mainstream financial services’ regulatory framework – meaning more protection and confidence for consumers and businesses

Would you like to know more?

If you would like to discuss any of the above and how it impacts you, please get in touch with your usual Blick Rothenberg contact or Artur Vorobyev.