TL;DR
- The FCA, HMRC and Metropolitan Police targeted three London premises on September 10, issuing cease-and-desist letters to suspected unregistered peer-to-peer crypto traders.
- The operation was Britain’s second coordinated P2P crypto sweep in six months, with evidence from April’s action now supporting criminal investigations.
- The FCA says no P2P crypto business is currently registered in Britain, while a broader crypto authorization regime is scheduled to take effect on October 25, 2027.
Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority has intensified its crackdown on unregistered peer-to-peer crypto trading, joining HM Revenue & Customs and the Metropolitan Police in visits to three London premises on September 10. Authorities issued cease-and-desist letters at all three locations, ordering suspected illegal operators to stop trading. The FCA says no peer-to-peer crypto business is currently registered with it anywhere in the United Kingdom. That makes the latest operation less a warning shot than a direct attempt to disrupt an entire category of unregistered activity operating outside anti-money laundering controls.
FCA Intensifies Enforcement as Broader Crypto Rules Approach
The operation was the second coordinated sweep in six months, following action in April that produced evidence now supporting criminal investigations. Under Britain’s 2017 money laundering regulations, anyone buying and selling crypto directly with others as a business must register with the FCA. Operating outside that framework means traders bypass safeguards intended to detect and prevent money laundering, placing enforcement at the center of Britain’s current crypto oversight. FCA enforcement chief Steve Smart warned that anyone running an unregistered P2P crypto business should assume regulators are looking at them, signaling continued scrutiny beyond the three premises.
The push also reflects the practical difficulty authorities face when crypto moves quickly across borders. Metropolitan Police Detective Sergeant Sathish Alalasundaram said the complexity of digital assets and the speed at which funds can cross jurisdictions create continuing investigative challenges, while police are adapting disruption tactics as criminal methods evolve. The enforcement strategy is therefore moving beyond written warnings toward coordinated intervention involving financial regulators, tax authorities and police. The FCA has already secured a four-year sentence against Olumide Osunkoya over an unlawful crypto ATM network and supported arrests linked to a suspected illegal exchange.
The raids arrive as Britain prepares a broader crypto regulatory regime that will take effect on October 25, 2027. Firms can begin applying for FCA authorization on September 30, with the application window running through February 28, 2027. Recent guidance explains how the incoming perimeter will cover qualifying stablecoin issuance, crypto exchanges, dealing and arranging transactions, digital asset safeguarding and staking. The timing creates a stark transition: enforcement is already tightening under existing anti-money laundering rules while a substantially wider authorization framework is still more than a year away. For unregistered P2P operators, however, the FCA’s position is already unequivocal today.
