UK FCA Publishes Final Cryptoasset Perimeter Guidance PS26/18: Applications Open September 30, New Regime Takes Effect October 2027

On September 16, 2026, the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published policy statement PS26/18, Cryptoasset Perimeter Guidance. The FCA's publication page marks all three fields — policy statement, first published and last updated — with this same date; the finalised guidance is added to the FCA's Perimeter Guidance manual as a new chapter, PERG 18, and the legal instrument in the appendix states that this chapter takes effect the same day. It explains when cryptoasset activities require FCA authorisation; it is not a new piece of legislation.

This article was checked on September 18, 2026, drawing on the FCA's press release, the PS26/18 publication page, the full policy statement PDF, and the article-by-article page of the Virtual Asset Service Act in the Laws & Regulations Database of the Republic of China (Taiwan). We have not applied for authorisation, and we have not tested the FCA's authorisation process ourselves; we offer no assessment of any cryptoasset, exchange, wallet or issuer and no investment or legal advice. Regulatory requirements and timelines follow the FCA's own current announcements throughout.

What happened: the FCA publishes final guidance PS26/18

The rules this guidance addresses are not new in themselves. Their legal basis is the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2026 — what the FCA calls the Cryptoasset Regulations — passed by the UK Parliament on February 4, 2026. Paragraph 1.7 of PS26/18 notes that this guidance corresponds to that already-enacted legislation and does not yet cover the government's subsequent amendments: paragraph 1.6 states that the government first published a draft during the consultation period and has since laid that statutory instrument before Parliament. This article has not read the text of that statutory instrument and does not quote from it.

This final guidance follows consultation paper CP26/13, open from April 15 to June 3, 2026. Paragraph 1.9 of PS26/18 records a total of 78 responses received, and paragraph 1.10 records that a majority (60%) generally supported the proposed perimeter guidance and agreed that it would clarify how the regulatory perimeter applies to regulated cryptoasset activities; PS26/18 does not state what that percentage is a share of.

Four dates: guidance published, applications open, the transitional deadline, and the new regime takes effect

Publishing the guidance is not the same as the new regime taking effect, and several dates sit in between — conflating them is the easiest way to misread this story: February 4, 2026, Parliament passed the Cryptoasset Regulations that form the legal basis; September 16, 2026, the FCA published the final guidance PS26/18; September 30, 2026, the authorisation application window opens; October 25, 2027, the new regime formally takes effect — the FCA's press release states, in the original English, "The regime comes into force on 25 October 2027."

September 30, 2026, when the application window opens, is not the same thing as the application deadline — and that deadline is not the same for everyone either. PS26/18's publication page states both facts in a single sentence: the application window opens on September 30, 2026 and closes on February 28, 2027, but that closing date applies only to firms wanting to use the transitional arrangements, not as a uniform deadline for every applicant.

Existing registrations or permissions do not automatically become authorisation under the new regime. Both the PS26/18 publication page and the full policy statement state the same thing: firms currently authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act, registered under the Money Laundering Regulations (MLRs), or authorised or registered under the Payment Services Regulations or the Electronic Money Regulations, must obtain the appropriate authorisation if they carry on one or more regulated cryptoasset activities by way of business in the UK and no exclusion or exemption is available.

What the guidance covers: seven new activities, and which assets are excluded

Paragraph 4.1 of PS26/18 lists the newly regulated cryptoasset activities added this time — seven in total: issuing a qualifying stablecoin (the FCA's defined term) in the UK; safeguarding, and arranging the safeguarding of, qualifying cryptoassets (again the FCA's defined term) and related specified investment cryptoassets; operating a qualifying cryptoasset trading platform (QCATP); dealing in qualifying cryptoassets as principal, in the firm's own name; dealing in qualifying cryptoassets as agent; arranging deals in qualifying cryptoassets; and arranging qualifying cryptoasset staking. Paragraph 4.2 separately explains that lending cryptoassets is not a separate, eighth category, but falls within the scope of the dealing and/or arranging activities.

Not every cryptoasset counts as a qualifying cryptoasset. Paragraph 3.3 of PS26/18 lists the types excluded from that definition, including electronic money, fiat currency, central bank digital currency, and cryptoassets that can only be redeemed with the issuer and used to buy goods or services from the issuer, or that can only be redeemed with the issuer and used within a limited network; paragraph 3.4 separately excludes cryptoassets that already fall into another specified investment category. This is an "including"-led illustrative list, not a declaration that only these listed types are excluded.

All regulated cryptoasset activities are also subject to two general exclusions: activities carried on for the sale of goods or the supply of services, and activities incidental to the carrying on of a profession or business — the latter limited to cases where that profession or business is itself supervised and regulated by a designated professional body. Paragraph 5.3 of PS26/18 warns that Parliament did not carry over all of the other general exclusions that already exist in the Regulated Activities Order, or carry them over unchanged, onto cryptoasset activities — so it cannot be assumed that an exclusion available to a traditional regulated activity applies to a cryptoasset activity in the same way, or at all.

What the guidance cannot do: who sets the perimeter, and what is still undecided

Paragraphs 1.14 to 1.16 of PS26/18 set out this guidance's own standing: PERG is the FCA's interpretation of the regulatory perimeter Parliament set in legislation, not a perimeter the FCA draws according to its own preferred policy outcome; PERG cannot be used to expand, narrow or otherwise alter the perimeter set by legislation, only the courts can give an authoritative interpretation of legislation, and changing the perimeter itself requires a change in the law. The FCA also states that PERG is general guidance, not suited to giving detailed guidance on individual business models, and that anyone can seek independent legal advice or apply to the FCA for individual guidance.

This guidance does not yet cover everything. The FCA states that the government has made targeted amendments to the related legislation; this article has not read the text of those amendments and can only quote what the FCA itself says: these changes will not affect most cryptoasset firms, which can use this guidance now to prepare for authorisation; the FCA will consult in October on updates to this guidance arising from those legal changes, covering UK qualifying stablecoins, proprietary trading and market making, certain technology providers, decentralised protocols, safeguarding arrangements involving central securities depositories, and financial promotions. The publication page places that same consultation in "late 2026" and states the goal of publishing updated guidance in early 2027.

The FCA states that this guidance follows on from the series of policy statements it published on June 30, 2026 — on admission and disclosure and market abuse (PS26/9), stablecoin issuance (PS26/10), regulated cryptoasset activities (PS26/11), prudential rules (PS26/12), and the application of the FCA Handbook (PS26/13). This article records only these five documents' numbers and their respective topics, without describing their contents further.

How Taiwanese readers can read this: separate it into the Act, the guidance, and the commencement date

When you see a headline like "country X is about to regulate crypto," the way to avoid misreading it is to separate it into three things: whether what Parliament or the legislature passed is the law itself; whether what the regulator published is guidance on, or subordinate legislation under, that law; and what date the new regime actually takes effect. In the UK's case here, those three dates are: the legal basis passed on February 4, 2026; the guidance published on September 16, 2026; and the new regime not taking effect until October 25, 2027.

Taiwan's own timeline can be broken down the same way. The Virtual Asset Service Act was enacted and promulgated on July 22, 2026, with 56 articles in total; article 56 reads, in translation, "The date on which this Act comes into force shall be set by the Executive Yuan," and on the article-by-article page of the Laws & Regulations Database of the Republic of China (Taiwan), as of this article's check date, the entry still reads, in translation, "the last effective date is undecided." This only places the dates and the names of the instruments side by side — the UK legislated first, then issued guidance, then the regime takes effect later; Taiwan has already promulgated its Act, and the commencement date is still awaiting a decision from the Executive Yuan — without judging which side is stricter or faster.

If you want to confirm a firm's current UK authorisation status, note this: the three FCA documents this article read give guidance and a timeline, not a list of authorisations under the new regime, and the application window does not open until September 30, 2026. If you see a claim like "licensed in the UK" or "UK-certified," it is worth confirming first whether it refers to this still-in-preparation authorisation under the new regime, or to some other existing registration or permission.

2026 Crypto News Roundup: Key Developments in Regulation, Technology and Industry

EU MiCA Transitional Period Ends July 1: Grandfathering Differs by Country, a Pending Application Is Not an Extension

• Money & finance
• Crypto & blockchain