Financial Conduct Authority → News → Feed 2

$Three textured, translucent blocks, varying in height, stand in rippled water under a full moon. The blocks exhibit a gradient from clear to deep blue, suggesting evolving digital assets or tokenized real-world assets. Their fractured surface evokes the intricate blockchain architecture and robust cryptographic hashing securing decentralized ledger entries. The surrounding water, reflecting the blue hues, symbolizes DeFi liquidity pools and the underlying network infrastructure. The prominent moon signifies ambitious Web3 ecosystem growth and potential moonshot projects, while the pillars could represent distinct smart contract modules or network nodes contributing to market depth.$

UK crypto firms must integrate traditional finance governance, operational resilience, and conduct standards to achieve regulatory parity.

A luminous digital asset, resembling a full moon, anchors a dynamic blockchain ecosystem. Metallic sharding architecture forms a protective framework, encapsulating vibrant blue and white liquidity pools. These represent volatile transaction throughput and tokenomics distribution within a decentralized network. Abstract figures symbolize validators or protocol participants navigating the layer-2 scaling solutions. This visual metaphor highlights the intricate interoperability and smart contract functionality crucial for Web3 infrastructure and digital sovereignty.

→Stablecoin Regulation

→Financial Conduct Authority

→Operational Resilience

FCA Proposes Strict Stablecoin Backing and Crypto Custody Segregation Rules

The FCA's new consultation mandates full, segregated backing for qualifying stablecoins and non-statutory trusts for custody, fundamentally restructuring UK digital asset risk architecture.

A close-up reveals a sleek, translucent device featuring a prominent brushed metallic button, illuminated by an ethereal blue glow. This sophisticated interface suggests a secure hardware wallet or biometric authentication module, critical for safeguarding digital assets. The radiant blue signifies active cryptographic signature generation or successful transaction signing, essential for decentralized finance DeFi interactions and Web3 dApp access. It represents a non-custodial solution for private key management, enabling secure blockchain operations and multi-factor authentication MFA.

→Regulatory Perimeter

→Conduct of Business

→Compliance Framework

UK Regulator Mandates Financial Conduct Rules for Crypto Asset Activities

The FCA's extension of the Senior Managers Regime and Consumer Duty to crypto fundamentally alters governance and accountability for regulated firms.

A precisely engineered, modular infrastructure displays interconnected white and grey units on a dark blue background. A central, ribbed nexus facilitates robust cross-chain communication between four distinct data channels, symbolizing critical node interconnection within a decentralized network. This abstract representation illustrates a high-performance distributed ledger technology framework, essential for seamless smart contract execution, robust protocol integration, and scalable digital asset infrastructure, reflecting complex consensus mechanism orchestration.

→Regulated Investment Products

→Crypto Exchange-Traded Notes

→Consumer Protection Standards

FCA Lifts Four-Year Ban on Retail Crypto Exchange-Traded Notes Access

The FCA's policy reversal on retail crypto ETNs establishes a new, regulated pathway for asset managers, accelerating institutional market integration in the UK.

A sophisticated Hardware Security Module HSM is depicted, encased within a dynamic, translucent cryogenic fluid, highlighting advanced cold storage capabilities. The device features a metallic chassis with intricate black accents and a glowing blue internal component, indicative of active processing. A digital display shows '18', potentially representing a block height or transaction count, vital for maintaining decentralized ledger integrity. This robust cooling mechanism optimizes performance for high-throughput validator nodes, ensuring transaction finality and protecting against quantum-resistant cryptographic threats within the corporate crypto ecosystem.

→Product Governance

→UK Regulatory Policy

→ISA Inclusion

FCA Lifts Retail Ban on Crypto ETNs, Government Clarifies Tax Status

UK regulated firms must immediately update suitability and compliance frameworks to onboard crypto ETNs into retail investment products.

A sleek, metallic structure, possibly a hardware wallet or node component, features two embedded circular modules depicting a cratered lunar surface in cool blue tones. This visual metaphor signifies moonshot potential within the decentralized finance DeFi ecosystem. The reflective surfaces imply on-chain transparency and data integrity, crucial for blockchain operations. The deep blue, star-speckled background evokes the vast Web3 frontier, highlighting the pursuit of scalability solutions and interoperability protocols to achieve exponential growth for digital assets and utility tokens. This design embodies the ambition for groundbreaking protocol innovation.

→Fiduciary Duty

→Cross-Border Payments

→Consumer Protection

UK Regulator Proposes Strict Rules for Stablecoin Backing and Crypto Custody

The FCA's proposed framework mandates full stablecoin backing and asset segregation, fundamentally resetting UK operational and reserve requirements for issuers.

Blue foam, rich with fine bubbles, envelops several metallic components, suggesting a dynamic, interconnected blockchain infrastructure. The distinct dark blue ribbed cylinders and smooth silver units symbolize diverse digital assets or cryptographic primitives operating within a decentralized finance ecosystem. This visual metaphor highlights the intricate protocol layers and consensus mechanisms driving secure transaction throughput across a distributed ledger.

→Capital Gains

→Tax-Advantaged Accounts

→Integration

FCA Lifts Four-Year Retail Ban on Crypto Exchange-Traded Notes

The FCA's policy pivot normalizes regulated crypto exposure, compelling UK financial institutions to immediately update suitability and risk disclosure frameworks.

$A central, lustrous white sphere is enveloped by a fractal, icy blue structure resembling a virus or a complex molecular formation. This crystalline matrix is interwoven with intricate, glowing blue circuitry, evocative of a distributed ledger or a decentralized network. The visual metaphor suggests advanced cryptographic protocols, potentially quantum-resistant algorithms, underpinning blockchain technology. This fusion of organic and digital aesthetics points to the sophisticated, emergent properties within next-generation cryptocurrency ecosystems and their underlying consensus mechanisms.$

→Operational Resilience Standards

→Digital Securities

→Financial Conduct Authority

UK Treasury Publishes Draft Law Regulating Digital Asset Service Providers

The UK's new DASP framework mandates exchanges and brokers meet traditional finance standards for resilience, fundamentally altering operational compliance architecture.