Clock's ticking: UK's crypto regulatory application window opens with February deadline

The February 2027 deadline represents a punchy five-month process for firms to make their applications. In theory, the companies that already received registration under the FCA’s existing regime, which focused on anti-money laundering primarily, may find much of the heavy lifting has already been done.

One of those 60+ companies is Zumo, a crypto infrastructure platform which won registration in 2021. The Edinburgh-based firm has built a “U.K Cryptoasset Regulation Tracker,” telling firms what the rules will require them to do and mapping timelines for regulatory milestones.

“Everyone else publishing a traceker is a law firm or consultancy. We’re developing ours as industry operators,” Nick Jones, founder and CEO of Zumo, said in an emailed announcement on Wednesday.

“Building it has meant reading the regime rules right down to the level of every individual obligation, mapping each one to the regulated activity it attaches to, and keeping that mapping current as further papers land.”