Cryptoasset Regulation: UK Advances Comprehensive Regime as US CLARITY Act Stalls

EU RegCORE Client Alert | EU Digital Single Market, financial services and crypto-assets

QuickTake

On 16 September 2026, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published PS26/18, finalising perimeter guidance for the UK cryptoasset regime under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 Regulations 2026 (Cryptoasset Regulations). The principal provisions take effect on 25 October 2027.

The FCA application window opened on 30 September 2026 and closes on 28 February 2027 for firms seeking the savings provisions. In the US, the Senate on 15 September 2026 rejected cloture on the motion to proceed to the CLARITY Act by 49-50, leaving the bill stalled rather than defeated on final passage.

The contrast is structural: a legislatively anchored UK implementation path versus US agency action under existing law while Congress debates market structure. 

UK - FCA Cryptoasset Perimeter Guidance (PS26/18)

The Cryptoasset Regulations were made on 4 February 2026 after a draft had been approved by both Houses of Parliament, and their principal provisions take effect on 25 October 2027.The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/102, introductory text (made 4 February 2026 following approval by resolution of each House) and reg. 1.Show Footnote They amend the regulatory perimeter under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA). PS26/18, published on 16 September 2026, provides detailed perimeter guidance through PERG 18. The FCA received 78 responses to CP26/13, with 60% generally supporting the proposed perimeter guidance.FCA, PS26/18, paras. 1.9-1.10 (78 responses; 60% generally supportive).Show Footnote The key elements include:

• New regulated activities: issuing qualifying stablecoins in the UK; safeguarding and arranging safeguarding of qualifying cryptoassets and relevant specified investment cryptoassets; operating qualifying cryptoasset trading platforms (QCATPs); dealing as principal or agent; arranging deals in qualifying cryptoassets; and arranging qualifying cryptoasset staking.FCA, PS26/18, para. 4.1 (listing the new regulated cryptoasset activities, including safeguarding and arranging safeguarding).Show Footnote
• Specified investments: a qualifying cryptoasset is a specified investment under the new regime, and a qualifying stablecoin is a subcategory of qualifying cryptoasset. A specified investment cryptoasset (SIC) is a cryptoasset that also falls within an existing specified-investment category; certain activities in relation to SICs are therefore already within the FSMA perimeter.FCA, PS26/18, paras. 3.2-3.5; Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2026, reg. 40 (amending the Regulated Activities Order, including the definitions of qualifying cryptoasset, qualifying stablecoin and specified investment cryptoasset).Show Footnote
• Authorisation gateway: the application window opened on 30 September 2026 and closes on 28 February 2027 for applicants wishing to rely on the savings provisions. Existing registrations and permissions do not convert automatically.FCA, PS26/18, paras. 1.25-1.27; FCA, PS26/18 webpage, “Next steps”.Show Footnote
• Territorial scope: the cryptoasset-specific “by way of business” test is narrower than the general FSMA business element. The territorial rules also expand the circumstances in which certain services provided from outside the UK to UK consumers are treated as carried on in the UK. Parliament did not create an Overseas Persons Exclusion (OPE) for the new regulated cryptoasset activities, although the application of the territorial deeming rules and available exclusions remains fact-specific.FCA, PS26/18, paras. 2.4-2.5 and 5.7; PERG 18.3.2 in the made rules appended to PS26/18. The FCA states that the cryptoasset-specific business element is narrower, that certain overseas-to-UK-consumer activity may be deemed to occur in the UK, and that Parliament did not create an OPE for the new regulated cryptoasset activities.Show Footnote
• Additional statutory instrument: the Government has laid a further statutory instrument containing targeted amendments that affect, among other matters, technical and infrastructure services, dealing and arranging involving UK qualifying stablecoins (UKQS), and temporary holding arrangements. The FCA has made clear that PS26/18 does not yet incorporate those amendments.FCA, PS26/18, paras. 1.6-1.8; FCA, Press Release, "Crypto firms get guidance on how the new regime applies", 16 September 2026. PS26/18 explains that a further Government SI had been laid and that the final guidance did not yet incorporate its targeted amendments.Show Footnote
• Further guidance and MLR interaction: the FCA plans a further PERG consultation in early Q4 2026 and aims to publish final amended guidance in early 2027. Firms registered under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (MLRs) will need the appropriate FSMA permission where they conduct regulated cryptoasset activities; MLR and FSMA obligations will continue to operate concurrently where applicable.FCA, PS26/18, paras. 1.25-1.26 and 6.2. The FCA explains that existing registrations and permissions do not convert automatically and that MLR and FSMA obligations are not identical in scope and will continue to operate concurrently.Show Footnote

David Geale, the FCA's Executive Director for Payments and Digital Finance and Payment Systems Regulator Managing Director, stated: “We are building a crypto regime that firms, consumers and international partners can trust. Getting ready for regulation starts with understanding how the regime applies to your business.”FCA, Press Release, "Crypto firms get guidance on how the new regime applies", 16 September 2026. The release identifies David Geale as FCA's Executive Director for Payments and Digital Finance and Payment Systems Regulator Managing Director contains the quoted statement.Show Footnote

US - CLARITY Act Stalls; SEC and CFTC Continue Agency-Led Measures

The CLARITY Act (H.R. 3633, 119th Congress) would establish a federal market-structure framework for digital assets, allocating significant oversight of digital-commodity markets to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) while preserving Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) authority over securities and investment-contract transactions. The House passed the bill 294-134 on 17 July 2025.Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, Roll Call 199, H.R. 3633 (CLARITY Act), 17 July 2025: passed 294-134, https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2025199.Show Footnote The Senate Banking Committee advanced it 15-9 on 14 May 2026.U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, "Chairman Scott, Senate Banking Committee Advance Clarity Act in Historic Bipartisan Vote", 14 May 2026 (H.R. 3633 advanced 15-9).Show Footnote On 15 September 2026, however, the Senate rejected cloture on the motion to proceed by 49-50. That was a procedural failure to advance the bill, not a vote on final passage.U.S. Senate, Roll Call Vote No. 234, 15 September 2026, cloture on the motion to proceed to H.R. 3633 rejected 49-50. Because the question was cloture on the motion to proceed, this was not a final-passage vote.Show Footnote

Speaking at the Solana Policy Institute Summit on 14 September 2026, SEC Chairman Paul Atkins urged Congress to advance the legislation, adding that “with or without that legislation, this Administration will deliver for American investors and technological innovators.”Paul S. Atkins, Chairman, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, “Remarks at the Solana Policy Institute Summit: Washington x Wall Street”, 14 September 2026, https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/speeches-statements/atkins-remarks-solana-policy-institute-091426.Show Footnote The agencies have continued to use existing statutory authorities in parallel:

• Project Crypto: Chairman Atkins announced Project Crypto on 31 July 2025 as a Commission-wide initiative to modernise federal securities regulation for on-chain finance. On 29 January 2026, the SEC and CFTC launched a joint phase of Project Crypto focused on regulatory harmonisation.Paul S. Atkins, Chairman, SEC, “American Leadership in the Digital Finance Revolution”, 31 July 2025 (announcing Project Crypto), https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/speeches-statements/atkins-digital-finance-revolution-073125; Paul S. Atkins, “Opening Remarks at Joint SEC-CFTC Harmonization Event - Project Crypto”, 29 January 2026.Show Footnote
• March 2026 interpretation and guidance: on 17 March 2026, the SEC issued an interpretive release on the application of the federal securities laws to crypto assets, with the CFTC providing related guidance. The framework identifies, among others, Bitcoin and Ether as digital commodities, while emphasising that transactions involving a non-security crypto asset may still constitute an investment contract depending on the facts.SEC, Application of the Federal Securities Laws to Certain Types of Crypto Assets and Certain Transactions Involving Crypto Assets, Release Nos. 33-11412 and 34-105020, File No. S7-2026-09, issued 17 March 2026; the CFTC provided guidance relating to the SEC interpretation, https://www.sec.gov/rules-regulations/2026/03/s7-2026-09https://www.sec.gov/rules-regulations/2026/03/s7-2026-09.Show Footnote
• August-September 2026 SEC measures: on 18 August the SEC proposed Regulation Crypto Assets, including exemptions for offerings of up to USD 5 million over four years and USD 75 million in any twelve-month period, together with a conditional safe harbour from the term “investment contract”.SEC, Regulation Crypto Assets, Release Nos. 33-11434 and 34-106150, File No. S7-2026-27, issued 18 August 2026. The proposal includes exemptions for offerings up to USD 5 million during a four-year period and up to USD 75 million during each twelve-month period, plus a conditional safe harbour from the term “investment contract”; comments are due 20 October 2026, https://www.sec.gov/rules-regulations/2026/08/s7-2026-27.Show Footnote On 1 September it proposed a substantial modernisation of the transfer-agent regime, including for blockchain-based securities infrastructure.SEC, Press Release 2026-81, “SEC Proposes to Modernize Rules for Registered Transfer Agents”, 1 September 2026, noting expressly the use of electronic communications and blockchain technology in securities offerings and share transfers.Show Footnote On 17 September it issued a temporary, conditional “Innovation Exemption” permitting limited on-chain trading of tokenised NMS stock through qualifying Tokenized Securities Venues.SEC, Press Release 2026-90, “SEC Issues ‘Innovation Exemption’ to Facilitate the Trading of Tokenized NMS Stock and Request for Comment”, 17 September 2026. The relief is temporary and conditional and applies to qualifying Tokenized Securities Venues.Show Footnote
• September-October 2026 additional measures: on 17 September the CFTC submitted a pre-rule initiative entitled "Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets" for review by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA); the item remains at the pre-rule stage and pending review.Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, RIN 3038-AF80, “Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets”, Commodity Futures Trading Commission; received 17 September 2026, stage: Prerule, review status: Pending Review.Show Footnote On 1 October the SEC proposed a tailored crypto-asset custody framework for registered investment advisers and regulated funds.SEC, Press Release 2026-100, “SEC Proposal Would Address How Investment Advisers and Funds Can Custody Crypto Assets Under the Federal Securities Laws”, 1 October 2026; SEC, Adviser and Regulated Fund Custody Rules; Crypto Custody Rules, File No. S7-2026-35, Release Nos. IA-7023 and IC-36353.Show Footnote