UK’s 2027 crypto rules let firms remove trust protection from Bitcoin lent for yield

UK crypto firms can now apply for authorization as of Sept. 30, bringing Bitcoin holders closer to a rulebook that will treat coins pledged as qualifying borrowing collateral differently from coins transferred into lending for yield. The distinction could matter when a platform fails: safeguarded assets and a contractual promise to return equivalent coins give customers different starting points for seeking recovery.

The Financial Conduct Authority now allows firms to apply for authorization or vary their permissions through its Connect system. But the safeguards in the rules it finalized June 30 are forthcoming, with the new regime expected to begin Oct. 25, 2027. An application today does not establish authorization or bring those protections into effect.

The central distinction concerns what a platform is allowed to do with customer assets. Under the future rules, covered custody generally requires a safeguarding trust under CASS 17, the crypto custody chapter of the FCA's Client Assets Sourcebook. Retail collateral supporting an in-scope crypto borrowing service must remain safeguarded, with a narrow debt-discharge exception. A qualifying lending service can instead use an exemption from the trust requirement while the lending continues. The collateral protection concerns qualifying cryptoasset borrowing, a defined service; it cannot automatically be extended to every cash loan marketed as Bitcoin-backed.