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UK Regulator Intends to Start Authorizing Crypto Firms in 2026

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The U.K.’s crypto industry has just over 12 months to prepare for an even stricter regulatory regime, a senior official with the country’s finance regulator said.

Matthew Long, director of payments and digital assets at the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), told CoinDesk in an interview that the «impending gateway regime» that is earmarked for 2026 will in fact be a new authorization regime for crypto companies.

«We will have a gateway which will allow authorization. But obviously we’ve got to go through those consultations, create those rules and get the legislation for that to take place,» Long said.

This regime will be a leap from the current anti-money laundering (AML) one. Firms like crypto exchanges Coinbase, Gemini and Bitpanda will move away from just needing to register with the country to comply with anti-money laundering rules to an authorization regime with rules for a suite of offerings. This will require them to go through a fresh process to secure approval from the FCA.

The FCA intends to release papers on stablecoins, trading platforms, staking, prudential crypto exposure and more this year. The regime is expected to go live after final policy papers are published in 2026, Long said.

Since its anti-money laundering register for firms opened in 2020, the FCA received 368 applications from firms wishing to comply, but only 50 firms — 14% of applicants — have been approved so far. Many firms may have to start again.

Read more: U.K. Financial Regulator Aims for Crypto Regime by 2026

Regulated activities

Upcoming legislation will define what counts as a regulated activity, the FCA’s Long said. Companies that engage in those activities will need to seek authorization.

In 2023 the former U.K. government released papers that said regulated activities would likely include crypto and fiat-referenced stablecoins issuance as well as payment, exchange and lending activities.

Stablecoins will no longer be brought under the U.K. payments regulations as set out in previous work, former Economic Secretary Tulip Siddiq said in November. The FCA plans to consult on draft rules for stablecoins early this year.

«What we’re doing in terms of the stablecoins is we’re making sure that we take the best from the current regulation that exists in TradFi, but stablecoins are ultimately unique,» Long said. «There isn’t anything that is exactly the same. We’ve got to adapt the regulation that we’ve currently got.»

Read more: UK to Draft a Regulatory Framework for Crypto, Stablecoins Early Next Year

Transition

The FCA is still deciding on the process crypto companies will need to go through to get authorized, Long said.

Long added that it was undecided what steps those who are already registered in the money laundering regime will need to take but the new regime will come with wider permissions,» so we’d expect that if you wanted the further permissions, you’d apply for them.»

Therefore companies may need to go through a lengthy registration process — even if they’ve already secured an existing license.

«We’ll be communicating with firms about what the gateway will look like before it goes live, our intention is to bring it live as soon as humanly possible,» Long said referring to the authorization regime.

In formulating how it intends to move forward, the regulator plans to also look at Europe which has launched bespoke legislation for the crypto sector and the International Organization of Securities Commissions’ 18 recommendations. IOSCO will soon be publishing a piece on how countries are progressing with its standards, someone familiar with the matter said.

«It’s a case of understanding and looking for best practice,» Long said.

Read more: UK Crypto Firms and Regulator Blame Each Other for Industry Exodus

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Bitcoin Nears $81K; XRP, ADA Slide as Traders Brace For Tariff War Ahead

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Bitcoin (BTC) traders just over $81,500 in Asian morning hours Monday as a weekend slide saw major tokens lose momentum on last week’s brief rally.

XRP and Cardano’s ADA led losses among majors with a 5% drop in the past 24 hours, with Solana’s SOL, dogecoin (DOGE) and ether (ETH) down between 2-3%.

The CoinDesk 20, a measure of the performance of the largest digital assets, is down 2.6%

Weekly inflows to the BTC ETF finished last week at $196 million, according to SoSoValue, while ETH ETFs had a net outflow of just over $8 million.

Stock markets opened lower Monday, their fourth consecutive day of decline, as investors around the globe brace for President Donald Trump’s upcoming announcement of new tariffs, set to be revealed on April 2, amid growing fears of a global trade war’s economic fallout.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 1.7% in the morning session, while the Nikkei 225 was down 3.8%, and Korea’s KOPSI index in the red by 3% as export-heavy economies worry about market access to the U.S.

Futures for U.S. and European stock indexes also fell. In contrast, safe-haven assets like gold reached an all-time high, and U.S. Treasury yields dropped due to increased demand.

Globally, portfolio managers are adopting cautious strategies, either reducing risk or avoiding large investments, unsettled by the impending «reciprocal tariffs» and their potential economic toll.

Elsewhere in crypto, data from Tokenomist.ai shows that $751.2 million in unlocks are scheduled this week, including SUI and DYDX, putting the weekly unlock cycle in the middle of the pack. Unlocks are scheduled to pick up in May, when roughly $4.4 billion (at current market prices) in tokens will be unlocked.

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Bitcoin May be on 25% of S&P 500 Firms’ Balance Sheets by 2030: Architect Partners

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Bitcoin is making its way from trading desks to corporate treasuries, and by the end of the decade, it could be standard practice, according to one analyst.

“Across all the different strategies and implementations, I anticipate that by 2030, a quarter of the S&P 500 will have BTC somewhere on their balance sheets as a long-term asset,” Elliot Chun, a partner at Architect Partners, wrote in a market snapshot.

The strategy—holding bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset—was unorthodox when Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy, first adopted it in August 2020. The firm framed BTC as a hedge against inflation, a diversification tool, and a way to distinguish itself in the market.

Then CEO Michael Saylor’s highly public embrace of bitcoin transformed the company into a de facto proxy for BTC exposure. Since then, MicroStrategy stock has surged more than 2,000%, far outpacing both the S&P 500 and bitcoin over the same period, Chun pointed out.

GameStop is the latest company to follow suit, announcing this week that it would raise $1.3 billion through a convertible note to acquire bitcoin. Its stock initially surged following the announcement but has since endured a correction, falling nearly 15% for the week.

Chun argued that treasurers may soon face career risk not for buying bitcoin, but for ignoring it altogether. “Doing nothing is no longer a defensible strategy,” he wrote.

According to BitcoinTreasuries data, publicly listed companies currently hold 665,618 BTC, around 3.17% of the cryptocurrency’s total supply. Strategy holds the lion’s share, 506,137 BTC.

Read more: U.S. Listed Firms Continue Bitcoin (BTC) Treasury Adoption

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Chart of The Week: Will April Bring Good Luck or Fool’s Hope for Bitcoin?

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It’s a bloodbath for digital assets, with traders hitting the sell button, wiping out over $160 billion of the total cryptocurrency market cap since Friday.

Few things have compounded as the first quarter of this year closes out, leading to the sell-off, including Trump’s tariff threats, global economic concerns and the lack of a clear catalyst for the next leg up.

However, if history is anything to go by, there might be some glimmer of hope heading into the second quarter, as April could bring a bullish setup for crypto.

Based on the total percent return since 2010, April has brought in an average 27% return for bitcoin, marking it the third-best month, according to Barchart data. November and May were the other two months with the highest returns, with about 38% and 26% gains, respectively.

As CoinDesk analyst Omkar Godbole reported for Crypto Daybook Americas—a premium newsletter offering to help traders make informed investment decisions—this seasonality could be a much-needed positive indicator for the market.

«Seasonality factors are not as reliable as standalone indicators, but when coupled with other signs, such as the recent halt in selling by long-term holders, they appear credible,» Godbole wrote.

One cog in the wheel may be the defunct exchange Mt. Gox’s transfer of a significant amount of bitcoin to the centralized exchange’s wallets, which could create fear of creditors’ liquidations.

«A potential short-term risk is Mt. Gox, which has been transferring sizable amounts of BTC to Kraken—this may lead to temporary selling pressure or market volatility,» said Deribit CEO Luuk Strijers.

Read more: Now Is ‘Really Good Time’ to Buy Bitcoin, Says Trillion Dollar Investment Manager

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