News, data and analysis on tokenized assets, market design and digital economic systems.
The FCA published the five policy statements completing its cryptoasset rulebook on June 30, 2026; firms can apply from September 30, 2026 and the full regime applies from October 2027, with the Bank of England's systemic stablecoin Code still to be finalised.
The FSMA 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2026, approved on February 4, 2026, brought cryptoasset activities inside the UK regulatory perimeter. On June 30, 2026 the FCA published five policy statements completing the core rulebook: PS26/9 on admissions, disclosures and the Market Abuse Regime for Cryptoassets, PS26/10 on qualifying stablecoin issuance, PS26/11 on regulated cryptoasset activities, PS26/12 on the prudential regime and PS26/13 on Handbook application. Firms can apply under savings provisions between September 30, 2026 and February 28, 2027, with the full regime applying from October 25, 2027. The Bank of England published its policy statement and draft Code of Practice for systemic sterling stablecoins on June 22, 2026, proposing that backing assets may include up to 70% short-term UK government debt with at least 30% in unremunerated central bank deposits, alongside a temporary £40bn issuance guardrail per systemic coin; that consultation closed on September 22, 2026 with the Code expected to be finalised by end-2026. On tokenized government debt, HM Treasury selected HSBC's Orion platform for the DIGIT pilot digital gilt in February 2026, and HSBC and the London Stock Exchange Group signed a memorandum of understanding on July 17, 2026.
| Framework | Status | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 | In force | 29 June 2023 | Enables regulation of cryptoassets, stablecoins used for payment and systemic payment systems using digital settlement assets. |
| Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2026 | In force | 4 February 2026 | Creates the specified activities for stablecoin issuance, custody, trading platforms, dealing and staking; approved by Parliament February 4, 2026. |
| FCA PS26/9: admissions and disclosures and the Market Abuse Regime for Cryptoassets | Final rules | 30 June 2026 | Admission documents, due diligence obligations for trading platforms and a bespoke market abuse regime. |
| FCA PS26/10: qualifying stablecoin issuance and custody | Final rules | 30 June 2026 | Backing asset composition, statutory trust, par redemption by the end of the next business day, no interest to holders. |
| FCA PS26/11: regulated cryptoasset activities | Final rules | 30 June 2026 | Conduct, disclosure and operational requirements for trading platforms, intermediaries, custodians and staking services. |
| FCA PS26/12: prudential regime for cryptoasset firms (COREPRU) | Final rules | 30 June 2026 | Own funds, liquidity and concentration requirements for authorised cryptoasset firms. |
| FCA PS26/13: application of the Handbook to cryptoasset firms | Final rules | 30 June 2026 | Threshold conditions, senior managers regime and consumer duty application. |
| Bank of England policy statement and draft Code of Practice for systemic payment systems using stablecoins | Consultation | 22 June 2026 | Backing of up to 70% short-term UK government debt with at least 30% unremunerated central bank deposits, plus a temporary £40bn issuance guardrail per systemic coin; consultation closed September 22, 2026, final Code expected end-2026 with the regime live in 2027. |
| Digital Securities Sandbox (FCA and Bank of England) | In force | 30 September 2024 | Allows firms to operate DLT-based securities issuance, trading and settlement under modified rules for up to five years. |
| DIGIT digital gilt pilot | In force | 1 February 2026 | HM Treasury selected HSBC's Orion platform to issue a pilot DLT-based gilt; HSBC and the London Stock Exchange Group signed a memorandum of understanding on July 17, 2026. |
| Money Laundering Regulations 2017 cryptoasset registration and travel rule | In force | 1 September 2023 | FCA registration for cryptoasset businesses and originator/beneficiary information requirements for transfers. |
Every development we have evidenced under United Kingdom, newest first.
UK crypto firms can apply for authorisation under FSMA ahead of the regime starting on 25 October 2027. MLR registrations do not convert. Firms applying in the window may keep taking new business while pending; later applicants may only perform existing contracts, and firms that do not apply must run off.
Two remortgage completions with funds locked and released automatically, and a consumer marketplace purchase, on the platform Quant built for the Great British Tokenised Deposit initiative that UK Finance convenes. Pilots of digital-asset settlement, with coupons paid in tokenized deposits, are expected over the next few months.
The regulator asked by 23 October whether tokenisation could improve how gold is traded, pledged and held, and whether some gold tokens should sit outside the collective investment scheme and alternative investment fund perimeter. It says a token over an allocated bar is more likely outside it and a fractional interest in a pooled bar inside it.
Peers agreed amendment 88 to the Financial Services and Markets Bill [HL] by 194 to 138 against the government, inserting a new clause requiring the Treasury to prepare, publish and consult on a strategy covering cryptoassets, stablecoins, CBDCs and tokenised securities, and to examine the denial of banking and settlement services to digital asset firms.
London Stock Exchange Group said on 1 September 2026 that it is assessing a UK tokenized equity structure meant to preserve shareholder rights and governance standards, and named Payward, Kraken's parent, as a partner in exploring tokenized public equity markets. It says it intends to list xStocks on LSE 24, its planned round-the-clock venue, in 2027. No companies are named and no permissions are stated.
Robinhood said on 10 August 2026 that more than 50 cryptoassets were going into its main UK app, traded through Bitstamp UK Ltd, which is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority as a cryptoasset service provider. There is no trading, custody or account fee; a 0.10 per cent fee applies to the currency conversion, rising to 0.30 per cent between Friday and Sunday evenings in New York.
Aviva Investors launched a tokenized share class of its US Dollar Liquidity Fund on the XRP Ledger on 29 July 2026, approved by the Central Bank of Ireland. Ripple supplies the ledger, Komainu the institutional custody of the tokens and Licuido the tokenization infrastructure, with The Bank of New York Mellon remaining the fund's custodian. The conventional fund has run since 2020 and the tokenized class carries the same investment terms.
BNY said on 29 July 2026 that it had launched Digital Transfer Agency capabilities, keeping fund books and records on blockchain rails with legal title recorded there, accepting subscriptions and redemptions in either fiat or stablecoins, and issuing fund tokens by mint and burn. The service runs alongside the conventional transfer agency that services roughly $8.6tn across more than 7.6 million investor accounts, and starts with three funds: BLIQUID from BNY Investments Dreyfus, the Baillie Gifford Enhanced Yield Fund, and a BlackRock tokenized money market fund share class aimed at stablecoin reserves.
The Bank of England published a policy statement and draft Code of Practice for issuers of systemic sterling stablecoins, setting a temporary guardrail of £40bn per issuance instead of the individual holding limits it had consulted on. Issuers may hold up to 70% of backing assets in short-term UK government debt, with the remaining 30% in deposits at the Bank; responses are due by 22 September 2026 and regulated stablecoins are expected to operate from 2027.
Retail access to crypto exchange traded notes reopened in the United Kingdom, reversing a prohibition in force since January 2021. The Financial Conduct Authority required the notes to be traded on an FCA-approved UK investment exchange and subject to financial promotion rules and the Consumer Duty; holdings are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, and the ban on retail access to cryptoasset derivatives remains.
Fnality completed the first payments on its sterling payment system, with Lloyds Banking Group, Banco Santander and UBS transacting in tokenised central bank money held in an omnibus account at the Bank of England. The system was the first regulated wholesale payment infrastructure of its kind to go into operation.
The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 became law as 2023 Chapter 29, carrying provisions that bring digital settlement assets within UK payments regulation and create a framework for financial market infrastructure sandboxes. The Act gave HM Treasury the powers on which later secondary legislation for cryptoassets was built.
HM Treasury published a consultation and call for evidence on the UK regulatory approach to cryptoassets and stablecoins, open until 21 March 2021, confirming the government's intention to legislate to bring certain stablecoins used as a means of payment inside the regulatory perimeter. The government published its response on 4 April 2022.
UK crypto firms can apply for FCA authorisation from 30 September until 28 February 2027, ahead of the regime starting on 25 October 2027. An anti-money-laundering registration does not convert.
UK Finance said on 24 September that the Great British Tokenised Deposit pilots had completed their first live customer transactions: two remortgage completions in which funds were locked and then released automatically, and one consumer marketplace…
London clears most of the world's spot gold, and the regulator wants to know whether tokenizing it would help.
The House of Lords agreed a new clause by 194 to 138 against the government, requiring the Treasury to prepare, publish and consult on a strategy for cryptoassets, stablecoins, CBDCs and tokenised securities within twelve months of Royal Assent.
Corporate Decision #1390 lets Revolut custody digital assets through a UK affiliate and lets its customers pay remittances in stablecoins. It may not issue the Revolut-branded token, manage its reserves, or hold a digital asset on the bank's own balance sheet.
LSEG says it intends to list xStocks on a planned round-the-clock venue in 2027 and is designing a UK tokenized equity structure meant to keep shareholder rights intact, with Kraken's parent as its partner.
What issued, what settled, what the supervisors changed, with the numbers behind it and a note on what the numbers do not show. One email, Thursday mornings.
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