Latest edition
22 December 2025 - With several new FCA consultation papers released just a few days ago, we thought it made sense to put together a bonus edition of Crypto View. In this issue, we take a closer look at what the latest proposals could mean for the crypto market and share our thoughts on how these changes might affect everyone involved."
Previous editions
17 December 2025 - It’s been another whirlwind quarter in the world of crypto regulation—just when you think things might slow down for the holidays, the UK and global regulators have kept the pace up. Any suggestion that the UK regulator was not a fan of crypto can be discounted in light of their extreme festive generosity in publishing not one but three consultation papers, coming hot on the heels of HMT finally laying its cryptoasset regime before Parliament. In addition, the Bank of England and FCA are pushing ahead with new rules for stablecoins and tokenisation, and digital assets have now been formally recognised as property under UK law. Meanwhile, the EU is busy bedding in MiCA, Hong Kong is opening up new opportunities for virtual asset trading, and the UAE is rolling out fresh frameworks for stablecoins and staking.
18 September 2025 - Firstly, welcome back to Crypto View! After a short hiatus – I’ve been away getting married and having a very busy summer – we are very much back to business, and what a way to return. The big news yesterday is the publication of CP25/25, which covers the Application of the FCA Handbook for Regulated Cryptoasset Activities under the future regulatory regime. We give our thoughts on this first. Following that, we’ll take a look through some of the consultations that were published over the summer, covering stablecoins, prudential requirements, custody, and the broader regulatory approach to crypto firms. Finally, there have been some interesting developments from a number of European regulators relating to licensing and structuring under MiCA.
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30 April 2025 - It's been a while since we've sent out a Crypto View, but today we have seen the publication of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities and Miscellaneous Provisions) (Cryptoassets) Order 2025 (Cryptoassets Order) which will introduce cryptoasset legislation in the UK, along with an accompanying Policy Note providing some commentary to aid interpretation of the legislation - so here is the rundown.
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January 2025 - It feels like we're only just back from Christmas, and already we've had a lot of developments. No, I’m not talking about $TRUMP - the big news is that MiCA is now fully in force, though not necessarily fully clear. We look at this more below, but it's safe to say that ESMA's latest announcement and response to a Q&A has definitely muddied the waters... Conversely, we finally have a bit more clarity in the UK - with the government publishing an SI amending the CIS Order, confirming that staking is not a collective investment scheme.
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December 2024 - Well, it’s been a hell of a year (for amusement only – not necessarily representative of our views!), and despite it coming to a close, it doesn’t feel like things have slowed – so we thought we would squeeze in one final Crypto View before we take a break for Christmas. This month has seen a whole host of developments across the UK and EU, the former setting out how it plans to develop legislation, while the latter has been finalising MiCA, which is due to come fully into force in a few days. We also have more stablecoin developments – the EBA has published a paper on tokenised deposits, while Hong Kong has new legislation coming out, and the UAE has approved an “AE Coin”. The focus below is on the discussion paper published by the FCA on disclosures and market abuse.
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November 2024 - This issue takes a look at developments in crypto over the last month, but we can’t ignore the election in the US last week. This returns Trump to the presidency, and put (another) rocket into the crypto market. There are high expectations with regard to changes to personnel at the SEC as well as other developments in terms of cryptoasset regulation, and while the industry is optimistic, we will need to see when and whether these changes materialise.
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September 2024 - There is a distinct “back to school” feel in the air as we leave summer (except for our readers in the southern hemisphere…) In this edition we take a look at a crackdown on crypto ATMs in both the UK and in Europe, and a number of regulatory developments in the Middle East, including some promising regulatory coordination in the UAE. We also look at HMRC’s recent interventions on taxation of crypto in the UK, the publication of a crypto annex to the GMRA, a publication by the Basel Committee on banks use of crypto assets, and the impact of DORA on crypto firms.
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July 2024 - Since the last Crypto View we have had some political developments in both the UK and US. While President Biden and former President Trump's views on crypto are well known, the decision by Biden to stand aside for the November election has introduced an element of uncertainty to the future of cryptoasset regulation in the US. The same is true in the UK, where we are still waiting to see how a new Labour government might impact crypto regulation here.
This month has been marked by significant regulatory developments in the crypto sector, with the approval of Ether ETFs standing out as a major milestone. We also delve into the latest in DeFi, DAOs, and the UK's updated draft bill on digital assets as personal property.
Turning our focus to MiCA, in big news ESMA has released a legal opinion on the broker model used by many crypto firms to route EU trades to exchanges outside the EU, indicating that the MiCA authorisation application for these firms should be carefully scrutinised to avoid regulatory arbitrage- we've shared our thoughts on this below. We also observe a concerted effort toward harmonising the regulatory environment for cryptoassets across the EU. These updates include the introduction of guidelines and consultation papers aimed at clarifying the classification of cryptoassets, enhancing the supervision of cryptoasset service providers, and establishing a standardised approach for reporting and compliance under MiCA.
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Spring/Summer 2024 - It’s been a busy few months, both for us and in the crypto space, and so there are plenty of crypto-related legislative and regulatory developments to catch up on. Since March, we have arguably seen increasing institutional acceptance of digital assets – following the US’s move to approve Bitcoin ETFs earlier in the year, we have now seen spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs launched in Hong Kong, the first crypto-linked ETNs listed in the UK and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) giving its approval for the eventual listing of Ethereum ETFs in the US. There has also been a slew of consultations published and concluded in the EU (for MiCA) and in the UK – we take a look at some of these below.
We also take a look at some regulatory enforcement and court cases that will impact the sector, including the eviscerating judgment handed down by Judge Mellor in the High Court on whether Dr Craig Wright really is Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin, (spoiler: he is not). We also saw the sentencing and four month imprisonment of one of crypto’s most well-known and influential figures, Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao. In the UK, the FCA continued its enforcement efforts and strengthened its rules surrounding financial promotions on social media.
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February/March 2024 - A slightly delayed Crypto View this month, but it is no less full of news. As we've seen the price of Bitcoin rocket to new highs on the back of investment into crypto ETFs, the big news out yesterday was the FCA confirming that it "will not object" to the creation of a UK listed market segment for crypto ETNs - we discuss this further below. We also take a look at two publications from the Law Commission - the first is a draft of the legislation of the "third category" of property following its report of June last year, the second is the long awaited call for evidence on private international law issues. As ever with Law Commission publications, it's pretty hefty, so we've prepared a handy summary for you if you don't want to get stuck in to the 284 pages... Elsewhere we look at some news on the regulatory regime in the UK, with the FCA publishing data on financial promotions action, as well as an interesting intervention from the City Minister, Bim Afolami, on staking. We also look a couple of important cases in Singapore regarding lex situs for cryptoassets, some other UK news on use of DLT in financial instruments, and finally an update from Italy regarding MiCA......
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January 2024 - After a bit of a break for December, we're back with a bang with this month's edition of Crypto View. Clearly, the big news over the past two months has been the approval (then unapproval, then re(?)approval) of a series of Bitcoin ETFs in the United States. We take a look at this, as well as what this means in some other jurisdictions. Related to that, my colleagues have published an update on Crypto ETNs which we discuss as well. Elsewhere, the UK Financial Promotion Regime keeps giving, with the delayed introduction to certain "frictions" coming into effect earlier this month. We also take a look at developments in the world of CBDCs and fiat backed stablecoins, as well as an innovative tokenised securitisation in Italy. As usual, we'll finish with some updates on MiCA, which I'm sure you noticed, is getting closer and closer...
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November 2023 - Another quiet month in the digital asset sector (yeah, right - though at least nothing has come out today...) As promised in October's (second) Crypto View, we will be taking a look at the FCA's discussion paper on the regulation of stablecoins. HMT have also published their response to the consultation on the Digital Securities Sandbox - something we were heavily involved with through UK Finance. Elsewhere in tokenisation, the Investment Association (IA) has published an interim report on the tokenisation of funds - welcomed by the FCA, and surely one of the next big frontiers in the digital asset space. We discuss this report, and look at what the direction of travel is here. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has published further guidance on the regulation of cryptoasset providers, and my colleague Ashleigh Low has provided a helpful summary on that. There's also news in tax where 48 jurisdictions have released a joint statement confirming that they intend to implement the OECD crypto-asset reporting framework (CARF) by 2027. Oh, and there's the small matter of $4.3 billion...
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October 2023 Part Two - It seems that every time I sit down to write Crypto View someone publishes something else that needs to be included. So here we are; a week late. And today the FCA published a discussion paper on regulating stablecoins. I can't win. We'll cover that in November's issue, as I couldn't leave this any longer. So this issue we will look at the implementation of the financial promotion regime with respect to cryptoassets - the first time crypto has been subject to regulation in the UK. We also have a look at two other HMT papers on stablecoins that came out on the same day as HMT's response to the consultation on the future financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets (which we covered in a special Crypto View last week). We also look at economic crime reform in the UK, some new digital asset laws in Germany, (another) bit of litigation involving Craig Wright, and as usual we look at MiCA developments.
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October 2023 - Just as I was finalising October's Crypto View, HM Treasury decided to put out three publications - the response to the future financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets (the Response), an update on plans for the regulation of fiat-backed stablecoins, and a response to the consultation on managing the failure of systemic digital settlement asset (including stablecoin) firms. HMT have clearly been busy. We take a look at the key points from the primary consultation response on the future regulatory regime below (it's a long one), but are going to cover the other two responses in the October Crypto View (don't worry, it's still coming!)
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September 2023 Part Two - This 2nd edition we are again focussing on the changes to the UK financial promotion regime as it relates to crypto - the FCA have been active in publishing guidance and communicating with the industry and we take another look at what is coming in October. We also have an update to Italy where a tax amnesty in relation to crypto is about to end - if this impacts you, please do reach out to my colleagues to discuss. Finally, we have some technical advice from the EBA on how it will determine the significance of ARTs and EMTs. Oh, and Sam Bankman-Fried's trial has started...
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September 2023 - It's been a while since the last Crypto View - we took a bit of a break in July - but we're back with a vengeance with this instalment. It turns out two months, even over the summer, is a long time in crypto. The theme of the past two months has certainly been "consulting", with new consultations being published, submitting response, and generally a lot of reading. For this bumper 'back to school' edition, we look at some of the big developments over the summer, such as the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) losing not once, but twice in important crypto cases, as well as discussing what the regulators were asking in all those consultations!
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June 2023
Welcome to the third(!) "standard" Crypto View for June 2023.
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Special on the Law Commission’s Final Report on Digital Assets - In case you were wondering what to add to your summer reading list, the Law Commission yesterday published its final report on digital assets. The full report weighs-in at a hefty 304 pages, accompanied by a shorter 21 page summary. We outline the key points in this Crypto View special.
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FinProm Special - We understand that the FCA is today (8 June 2023) publishing PS23/6, "Financial promotion rules for cryptoassets". This follows CP22/2 from January 2022, "Strengthening our financial promotion rules for high risk investments, including cryptoassets", with additional rules on other asset classes (P2P Lending and Non-readily Realisable Securities).
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May 2023 - This month we saw a major event in cryptoasset regulation as the Council of the European Union adopted the regulation on markets in crypto-assets (MiCA)! If you’re anything like me, you would have struggled to contain your excitement – we look a little at the next steps for MiCA at the end of this issue.
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April 2023 - We have quite a global mix for you - beginning with a landmark case in Hong Kong, before travelling to Germany where there have been developments in legislation permitting more tokenisation of financial instruments. We then go to Ireland where the CBI looks to be more permissive with investments in digital assets by QIAIFs, the UK where we look at a speech by Sarah Pritchard of the FCA and developments to UK regulation before finishing with an update to MiCA in the EU.
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March 2023 - With what has been a difficult month for financial services and banking, which has spilled over into the FinTech and crypto sectors, and this issue looks at the fallout from the SVB, Signature and Silvergate collapses. We also look at how this has impacted banks' relationships with the cryptoasset industry, and a ratcheting up of regulatory intervention towards the cryptoasset industry in the US.
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February 2023 - We have a bumper edition this month: as well as developments in Dubai, we look at the consultation published by the Hong Kong Securitie and Futures Commission (SFC), outlining their plans for regulating crypto in the jurisdiction.
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UK Regulatory Special (February 2023) - The first release from HM Treasury (HMT) was the big one we have been waiting for: a consultation and call for evidence on the Future Financial Services Regulatory Regime for Cryptoassets (the Consultation), while the second is a Response to the Consultation on Cryptoasset Promotions (the Response). We look at both of these papers below and pull out the key points.
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January 2023 - We look at developments across Europe and showcase the latest from the FCA – including a consultation on financial promotions and the current landscape for crypto registration in the UK.
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December 2022 - We look at further developments around FTX, Prudential Treatment of Cryptoassets, Edinburgh Reforms and this month in MiCA.
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November 2022 - We take a look at Decentralised Autonomous Organisations, Non-Fungible Tokens and the developments on MiCA as well as the fall of FTX.
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October 2022 - We look at a number of jurisdictions developing specific crypto legislation - UK, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Africa - there looks to be a lot of change on the way.
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September 2022 - We look at the number of consultations and new pieces of legislation published, news from the Law Commission, the UK government's Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill and the new German legislation to allow for the tokenisation of units in funds.
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July 2022 - We look at the recent Financial Services and Markets Bill, three papers published by the Bank of International Settlements (BIS), an interesting English court case looking at enforcing rights against trustees holding stolen cryptoassets, and more.
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June 2022 - We look at the consultation from HM Treasury on failures of systemic digital assets, which seems particularly relevant in light of the recent turmoil in the (algorithmic) stablecoin market; as well as statements, publications and announcements regarding CBDCs from around the world.
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May 2022 - First, we are delighted to announce the launch of our Crypto Reviewer Tool. Second we cover a Discussion Paper on CBDCs in Hong Kong, the IMF's Global Financial Stability Report and start with a note from Rosali on her fireside chat on the Future of Crypto Regulation
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March 2022 - In this slightly delayed March edition of Crypto View, we share our thoughts on the latest developments in the UK, as HM Treasury have published its long-awaited response to its consultation on stablecoins.
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January 2022 - We have an extra issue of Crypto View this week, in light of HM Treasury’s release of the Regulatory Framework for Approval of Financial Promotions: Consultation Response (Consultation Response).
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January 2022 - This week we cover the recent announcements in the UK in relation to promotions of Cryptoassets, as well as news from Hong Kong and the Netherlands.
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December 2021 - This week we look at the discussion paper the European Central Bank (ECB) issued on central bank digital currencies (CBDC) and much more.
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November 2021 - This week we are focusing on updates from various regulators.
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October 2021 - This week we look at the launch of the first U.S bitcoin futures ETF and the FCA's Perimeter Report.
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September 2021 - This week we focus on crypto derivatives and the key takeaways from the FCA speech.
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August 2021 - This week the focus is on regulatory developments, as well as an interesting court case in the UK.
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July 2021 - This week we have some interesting developments from the US and Germany and also looking at Binance's relationship with the FCA.
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June 2021 - This week we look at FCA consumer research on cryptoasset ownership and Bank of England Discussion Paper: New forms of Digital Money.
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