“The existing AML registration process with the FCA, which is much more restricted, is already incredibly demanding, with the FCA rejecting or forcing the withdrawal of more than 85% of applications,” he said in an emailed comment. The new framework introduces significantly broader requirements covering consumer duty, prudential standards, operational resilience and senior management accountability.
Cattee also warned companies against delaying applications, pointing to the rollout of MiCA in Europe, where many companies waited until deadlines approached, creating licensing bottlenecks that left some companies without authorization in time.
For institutional investors, however, the new framework represents more than just a crypto rulebook.
Sandy Jones, director of digital assets at Baillie Gifford, said regulation does not automatically make crypto more secure, but provides the legal certainty and governance standards needed for traditional financial institutions (TradFi) to adopt blockchain-based infrastructure.
“The underlying technology is powerful, but it alone does not create a direct path to traditional financial markets,” Jones said. “You need legal clarity, operational resilience, good governance and rules that investors and institutions can recognize.”
Jones also welcomed the FCA’s recent enhancements to its stablecoin regime, saying they create a robust settlement infrastructure without imposing unnecessary operational friction.
Industry responses suggest that the FCA has deliberately positioned the UK as a commercially pragmatic alternative to the EU MiCA regime. But whether this will encourage businesses to choose Britain over other countries will depend less on the ambition of the framework than on the predictability of its implementation over the coming months.
