The UK Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Commitment to Cryptocurrency

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has pledged to speed up approvals for companies involved in cryptocurrency trading after years of being accused of stifling innovation.

Since 2020, any firm seeking to conduct cryptoasset business in the UK has been required to register with the FCA and demonstrate compliance with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing rules. So far, 55 companies have been added to the register.

However, industry groups have complained about the FCA’s reluctance to move quickly compared with rival jurisdictions. Both the EU and US have moved faster to approve exchange-traded crypto funds and open markets to retail investors, while regulators in Dubai and Singapore are actively courting digital asset businesses.

Faster Approvals After Years of Delays

The UK’s FCA pledged to update its approach to cryptocurrency registrations, promising faster approvals and a more accessible process after years of criticism from the cryptocurrency industry.

Simon Jennings, the executive director of the UK Cryptoasset Business Council, stated, “We’ve seen first-hand that even multibillion-dollar firms can spend years trying to secure UK authorization — and the reality is, they won’t wait around forever.”

Former chancellor George Osborne, now an adviser to Coinbase, echoed this sentiment, remarking that the UK is being “completely left behind” in the realm of crypto and stablecoins.

Since April, the FCA has approved the registrations of five crypto companies, including BlackRock and Standard Chartered, while it has rejected or seen the withdrawal of six others. Consequently, the acceptance rate has risen to 45%, compared to less than 15% in the previous five years.

Data released to the Financial Times indicates that the average processing time for successful applications has also decreased dramatically, with companies that registered in the past year completing the process in just over five months, compared to an average of 17 months for those approved two years ago.

David Geale, the FCA’s executive director for payments and digital finance, stated that the agency has “made a conscious effort to put resources into this,” claiming significant progress in authorization speeds.

The FCA has introduced pre-approval meetings, roundtables, and webinars to guide applicants through the process while encouraging firms to submit stronger applications. “What we tend to get is a better quality of application and that certainly speeds things up,” Geale added.

Decline in Applications Despite Improvements

While approvals are accelerating, the number of companies applying to register has fallen sharply. In the year to April 2023, 46 applications were filed, but this figure dropped to just 26 by April 2025.

Approvals also slid from eight in 2022–23 to just three in 2024–25 before rebounding slightly in the past six months. Industry observers believe this slowdown is due to companies delaying submissions ahead of the planned complete crypto regulatory framework expected to be introduced next year in the UK.

“I don’t think interest in the UK has dropped, but I do think it’s possible that some firms are pausing to take stock and see how its crypto regulation develops,” noted Brett Hillis, a partner at Reed Smith.

The FCA suggested that the prospect of broader rules might be influencing timing decisions. Recent efforts include inviting newly registered companies to share their experience. Raphael Landesmann, regulatory counsel at crypto trading firm GSR, mentioned that the firm was asked to advise others at an FCA workshop after its successful registration in December.

“We have seen very considerable efforts by the FCA in that regard,” he declared.

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