Skip to content

Topic

Crypto licensing and authorisation

Regulatory regimes requiring crypto exchanges, custodians and issuers to obtain authorisation before operating, often with phased transition periods.

Current stories

investConfirmed4 publishers

UK crypto firms that file by February 2027 can keep operating while the FCA decides

Britain's Financial Conduct Authority tells crypto firms to apply by 28 February 2027 to keep operating once its regime starts on 25 October. Existing firms that file in time may keep taking new business until they get a decision, so October binds mainly non-filers and firms the regulator refuses.

Perspective Coverage

4 publishers
Builder
Builder 13%
Operator
Operator 55%
Investor
Investor 32%

Reality

Evidence82
Adoption
Not scored
Hype gap+10
Incentives40
Confidence82
investConfirmed4 publishers

New York and Wyoming crypto regulators set a six-month target for second-state licenses

New York's DFS and Wyoming's banking division will aim to rule within six months when a crypto firm licensed in one state applies in the other. Only firms with three years under that license and no enforcement action qualify, so newer and troubled applicants stay on the standard track.

Perspective Coverage

4 publishers
Builder
Builder 10%
Operator
Operator 61%
Investor
Investor 29%

Reality

Evidence75
Adoption
Not scored
Hype gap+12
Incentives30
Confidence70
investOne report1 publisher

ESMA would license the exchanges and wallets that route EU users into DeFi

ESMA proposed a new regulated MiCA service for firms that give users access to DeFi, a sector the EBA and ESMA put at about 4% of global crypto value. Exchanges and wallet apps serving EU users would carry the compliance cost, while the protocol code itself stays outside the regime.

Reality

Evidence45
Adoption
Not scored
Hype gap+20
Incentives
Not scored
Confidence40
buildOne report1 publisher

MiCA's transitional window shut with roughly 17% of Europe's crypto firms authorised

Article 143(3) ran out on 1 July 2026, so from that date Article 59 applies to EU client business without exception, and the register that decides who sits inside the perimeter is still being revised week by week.

Publishers:dev.to

Reality

Evidence45
Adoption30
Hype gap+25
Incentives70
Confidence45
investConfirmed4 publishers

Britain hands the Bank of England an innovation duty that stability still outranks

The proposed secondary objective arrives with an explicit stability carve-out and an annual report to Parliament, which leaves June's reserve rule, not the statute, as the number that prices a sterling stablecoin business.

Perspective Coverage

4 publishers
Builder
Builder 21%
Operator
Operator 45%
Investor
Investor 34%

Reality

Evidence70
Adoption20
Hype gap+30
Incentives68
Confidence66