Zumo Launches UK Cryptoasset Regulation Tracker as Firms Prepare for FCA Authorisation.

Zumo, a UK crypto-as-a-service platform has launched a UK Cryptoasset Regulation Tracker  to help crypto firms and other financial institutions understand which requirements under the UK’s new regulatory framework apply to their business.

The tracker launched on the same day that the Financial Conduct Authority opened applications for the new cryptoasset regime. Firms that want to rely on the FCA’s savings provisions and continue specified activities while their applications are assessed should apply by 28 February 2027. The full regime comes into force on 25 October 2027.

The FCA says authorisation isn’t automatic. Firms will need to meet standards covering consumer protection, safeguarding customer assets, market integrity and financial resilience. Existing registration under the Money Laundering Regulations won’t automatically convert into authorisation under the new framework. 

Turning rules into tasks

Zumo said the tracker responds to the practical difficulty of working through policy statements running to hundreds of pages, alongside FCA Handbook sourcebooks. Many of the requirements are written as amendments to existing rules, leaving firms to work out which provisions apply to their activities and what controls they need to build.

In Zumo’s survey earlier this year, of active cryptoasset service providers serving UK customers, three in ten respondents said their biggest challenge was determining which rules applied to them and what permissions they needed.

The tracker organises requirements by business activity, including crypto broking, trading platforms and stablecoin issuance. It also maps regulatory milestones and links each summarised obligation to the relevant FCA source text.

Zumo said users can work through the relevant policy statements, including PS26/11, which sets out final conduct and operational rules for regulated cryptoasset activities. A named regulatory analyst at Zumo reviews each obligation before it is published in the tracker, the company said.

Firms still preparing

Zumo’s survey found that 90% of respondents intend to apply for authorisation during the FCA’s application window. But only 10% considered themselves fully prepared, while 50% said they were still at the planning stage of their regulatory-readiness work.

The survey also found that 60% of respondents believed their current operating model could be exposed to regulatory enforcement. Half said they were concerned about financial penalties or regulatory sanctions, while 60% expected the new regime to increase customer interest in crypto as an asset class.

The findings are self-reported and come from research commissioned by Zumo, which sells digital-asset and compliance infrastructure to firms serving the UK market. Zumo said all respondents were active cryptoasset service providers serving UK customers.

Nick Jones, founder and chief executive of Zumo, said the company developed the tracker from the perspective of an operator building systems for regulated clients.

“Everyone else publishing a UK regime tracker is a law firm or a consultancy. That work is valuable, of course, but it stops at the same place every time: here is what the rule says, here is what you should think about, and then the hard sell is to come and talk to us about your position.”

Jones added: “We’re developing our Tracker as industry operators. Building it has meant reading the regime rules right down to the level of every individual obligation, mapping each one to the regulated activity it attaches to, and keeping that mapping current as further papers land.”