Only 17% of UK Crypto Registration Applications Have Succeeded Since 2020

Between January 2020 and 1 October 2026, the FCA received 427 applications from crypto firms for registration under the Money Laundering Regulations and decided 393. Only 68 ended in registration (17%). 265 were withdrawn (67%), 46 were rejected as incomplete and 14 were refused (FCA data). That record is the best public guide to how the FCA treats crypto firms, now that every one of them must apply again, for full FSMA authorisation, ideally by 28 Feb 2027.

Most Applications Never Reach a Decision on the Merits

The FCA's answer to a freedom-of-information request (FOI2026/00528) splits outcomes by the year each application was received. The 2020 wave, when registration first became mandatory, accounts for 195 applications: 147 were withdrawn and 36 approved. Withdrawals dominate every year. Formal refusals are rare (14 in six years), because firms usually withdraw before a refusal is issued.

Approval Has Become Faster, but Not Fast

The average time to approve a registration fell from 496 days for applications received in 2021 to 217 days in 2025. The new application window closes on 28 Feb 2027, 239 days before the regime starts on 25 Oct 2027. If FSMA authorisation took as long as MLR registration did in 2024 (243 days), an application filed on the last day would not be decided by commencement. The saving provision exists for that case: firms that apply in time keep operating until they get a decision (FCA).

The Register Today

On 21 Oct 2026 the FCA's list showed 62 firms as “MLRs Registered” and 6 as formerly registered (FCA Register). It mixes retail platforms such as Coinbase and Kraken with banks, asset managers, custodians and market makers. In the 12 months to 1 October 2026 the FCA received 46 new applications and registered 12 firms.

How to Read These Numbers

• The monthly page and the FOI answer count applications, not firms: a firm that withdrew and reapplied appears twice.
• “Rejected” means the FCA did not accept the application as complete; “refused” is a formal decision that can be referred to the Upper Tribunal.
• The year-of-registration chart uses the register's “status effective” date, which can be later than the original registration if a firm's status changed.
• FSMA authorisation is a different, more demanding test (capital, safeguarding, conduct rules). The MLR record is context, not a forecast.