The FCA closes GC26/4 and GC26/5 on Wednesday 30 July 2026, the last open consultations on the UK cryptoasset prudential regime. Behind that deadline sits the bigger one: the FCA crypto authorisation gateway is scheduled to open on 30 September 2026 and close on 28 February 2027, and missing it carries a specific, published cost.
Treat the window as a hard constraint, not a courtesy deadline. Apply inside it and, subject to conditions, a firm can keep carrying on specified activities under savings and transitional provisions while the FCA assesses the application. Apply after it and that cover is gone: the FCA states late applicants "may need to cease carrying on relevant activities until they are authorised" once the newly regulated activities take effect on 25 October 2027. The regulator's own advice is to file as early as possible in the window, and we agree; early filers buy the longest transitional runway and the most room to absorb follow-up questions without a cliff edge.
When does the FCA crypto authorisation gateway open?
30 September 2026, per the policy statement package the FCA published on 30 June 2026. The application window closes on 28 February 2027, and the full scope of regulated cryptoasset activities takes effect from 25 October 2027 under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2026, which Parliament passed on 4 February 2026. Applications are made under FSMA, with the FCA's Pre-Application Support Service available to firms preparing a filing.
No existing permission converts, including e-money authorisations
The FCA is explicit that existing registrations will not convert automatically. Firms registered under the Money Laundering Regulations since 2020, firms authorised under the Payment Services Regulations or Electronic Money Regulations, and firms relying on a section 21 financial promotions approver all need fresh FSMA authorisation if they conduct an in-scope cryptoasset activity. UK EMIs that touch cryptoassets should read that list twice; an e-money authorisation does not carry a firm across this perimeter. Separately, the Government proposed legislation in April 2026 that would move arranging and dealing in UK-issued qualifying stablecoins into a modernised payments regime, so stablecoin-adjacent firms should watch the final statutory instrument before settling their application scope.
What the 30 June package settled, and what is still open
The regime's substance arrived in five policy statements: PS26/9 on admissions, disclosures and market abuse, PS26/10 on stablecoin issuance, PS26/11 on regulated activities including custody, PS26/12 on the new COREPRU and CRYPTOPRU prudential sourcebooks, and PS26/13 on how the wider FCA Handbook applies. The two consultations closing on 30 July, GC26/4 and GC26/5, cover guidance for the overall risk assessment under COREPRU 7 and CRYPTOPRU 7. Firms with views on how capital and risk expectations will be applied in practice have until Wednesday to say so.
Three moves before 30 September
Map current and planned UK activity against the new perimeter, including custody, staking and platform operation, using the UK cryptoasset regime page as a tracking baseline. Gap-assess capital, liquidity and risk processes against COREPRU and CRYPTOPRU now rather than after the guidance lands. And decide whether the UK is the lead licence or one leg of a wider footprint; our crypto licensing comparison puts the UK route against MiCA jurisdictions side by side, and the State of Crypto Licensing reports cover how licensing gateways of this kind have run elsewhere.
Sources
- FCA press release, 30 June 2026
- FCA cryptoasset regime policy statements, 30 June 2026
- GC26/4: COREPRU 7 guidance consultation
- GC26/5: CRYPTOPRU 7 guidance consultation
This article is informational only and is not legal advice.