Once the new regime comes into force in October 2027, certain overseas cryptoasset firms may require FCA authorisation, even where an equivalent overseas traditional finance firm could rely on the overseas persons exclusion (OPE) and remain outside the UK’s regulatory perimeter.

This means overseas crypto firms should start revisiting assumptions that operating from outside the UK will be sufficient to avoid UK authorisation requirements.

Under recently introduced regulations, cryptoasset activities will capture many of the core services offered by crypto exchanges, brokers, custodians and staking providers and will form the backbone of the UK’s new cryptoasset authorisation regime.

A person that carries on a regulated activity by way…