Revolut Secures FCA Registration to Offer Crypto Services in UK

European fintech unicorn Revolut has finally won registration from the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to offer crypto services in the U.K. following a lengthy wait.

The digital banking service, which is valued at $33 billion, was added to the U.K. financial watchdog's cryptoasset firm register on Sept. 26.

Revolut has previously offered crypto buying, selling and trading to U.K under the FCA's Temporary Registration Regime (TRR), which was set up to allow firms to continue to operate while their applications were being reviewed.

When the deadline for approval passed at the end of March this year, the FCA allowed a select number of firms to remain on the TRR where it was "strictly necessary." As of early April, Revolut was one of five firms on TRR, along with CEX.I0, Copper Technologies, GlobalBlock and Moneybrain. None of the other four firms have subsequently been approved.

The FCA became the U.K.'s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing authority at the start of 2020. Cryptoasset firms were thereafter required to register for approval to offer their services in the UK. More than 100 firms applied with 38 (including Revolut) approved.

Revolut also recently won authorization to offer its services across the European Economic Area (EEA) via registration with the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CYSEC). The U.K. therefore represented something of a final frontier to winning regulatory approval for its crypto services in Europe.

Source: CoinDesk