The seven cryptoasset activity heads, and why the article numbers matter
The instrument behind the UK cryptoasset regime is The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/102, made on 4 February 2026. Part 3 of it amends the Regulated Activities Order and inserts seven new activities. The article range is 9M to 9Z11.
Two naming points are worth fixing early, because both appear wrongly in circulating summaries. There is no activity called "qualifying cryptoasset exchange" — the correct head is operating a qualifying cryptoasset trading platform, at article 9S. And there is no separate article head for cryptoasset lending or borrowing, even though the FCA makes conduct rules for it in PS26/11 and the application form contains a lending and borrowing section.
The seven heads
- 9M — issuing qualifying stablecoin
- 9N — safeguarding of qualifying cryptoassets and relevant specified investment cryptoassets. Two limbs: safeguarding, and arranging safeguarding
- 9S — operating a qualifying cryptoasset trading platform
- 9T — dealing in qualifying cryptoassets as principal
- 9W — dealing in qualifying cryptoassets as agent
- 9Y — arranging deals in qualifying cryptoassets
- 9Z6 — qualifying cryptoasset staking
The definitions sit separately, at article 88F for qualifying cryptoassets and article 88G for qualifying stablecoin.
Why this is the decision everything hangs off
Your activity heads set your capital floor, your conduct rules, your reporting obligations and the shape of the application file. They are not a labelling exercise at the end. A firm that decides its heads late does not adjust the file; it rebuilds it, because the prudential calculation, the policy set and the activity-specific sections of the application form all derive from that choice.
Article 9N deserves particular attention. Its two limbs are separate, and the perimeter is wider than the pre-existing reading under article 40, which required safeguarding and administering together. If any part of the business touches customer holdings, safeguarding is a head to be mapped, not a footnote.
Read the exclusions before concluding you are outside
Most of the real argument lives in the exclusions, and they are extensive. Article 9N is excluded by 9O (group activity), 9P (introductions), 9Q (temporary settlement arrangements) and 9R. Article 9T is excluded by 9U, which covers absence of holding out, and 9V. Article 9W is excluded by 9X. Article 9Y has six: 9Z, 9Z1, 9Z2, 9Z3, 9Z4 and 9Z5. Article 9Z6 is excluded by 9Z7, 9Z8 and 9Z9, the last covering technical services.
Two general exclusions run across the whole set: 9Z10, activities carried on for the sale of goods or supply of services, and 9Z11, activities incidental to a profession or business.
Write the reasoning down, not just the conclusion
The FCA has said it may request accompanying legal advice justifying a firm's analysis of which regulated activities it will carry on. Whether or not it asks in your case, the discipline is the same: for every product line and revenue stream, name the article you are relying on, including for the lines you have concluded are outside the perimeter. A conclusion without a cited exclusion is not an analysis, and it will not survive a supervisor reading it alongside your website.
One open item
CP26/13, the FCA's consultation on cryptoasset perimeter guidance, has closed and the policy statement is expected in autumn 2026 — after the gateway opens. Separately, HM Treasury published a draft amending statutory instrument in April 2026 touching stablecoin and payment services, which may change the scope of article 9M. Neither is a reason to delay the analysis, but both are reasons to date it and revisit it before filing.
The checklist behind this article
Everything above is drawn from the same working document I use when I read a file: an 11-page readiness checklist for the FCA cryptoasset gateway, with the rule, article number or published FCA statement cited behind every item, and the open questions marked as open rather than guessed at. It covers the seven activity heads with their RAO article numbers, the permanent minimum requirement by activity, the application pack and its attachments, SM&CR, and the eight failure modes the FCA has published. It is USD 149, and buyers get the updated edition free when the September 2026 fee notice and the autumn perimeter guidance land.
If your situation is straightforward, the checklist is genuinely enough and you will not need to speak to me. If it is not, the 48-hour gap check reads what you have and returns a written list of what is missing, in the order it should be fixed.