Key Takeaways:
- The FCA raided 8 premises on April 22, 2026, issuing cease and desist letters in the UK’s first P2P crypto crackdown.
- SWROCU’s DI Ross Flay cited money laundering risk, with evidence from the raids supporting multiple criminal investigations.
- The FCA’s Firm Checker tool remains the primary resource for consumers as enforcement of crypto AML rules intensifies in 2026.
FCA Targets Unregistered Peer-to-Peer Crypto Traders in Coordinated UK Raids
The FCA conducted the inspections alongside HM Revenue and Customs and the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit. At each site, agents issued cease and desist letters ordering traders to halt operations immediately.
Peer-to-peer crypto trading involves individuals buying and selling digital assets directly with one another, bypassing a centralized exchange. Under U.K. law, that activity requires FCA registration. Currently, no registered peer-to-peer crypto traders or platforms operate legally in the country.
Evidence gathered during the inspections is now feeding into multiple ongoing criminal investigations.
Steve Smart, executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said unregistered peer-to-peer traders are operating illegally and creating financial crime risks. “We will use our powers and work with partners to disrupt them,” Smart stated.
Detective Inspector Ross Flay of SWROCU pointed to money laundering as a central concern. Flay said the goal is to stop illegal traders from giving criminals a route to move, hide, and spend illicit funds.
The action was taken under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds Regulations 2017, the primary legal framework governing anti-money laundering compliance for crypto firms in the United Kingdom.
This is not the FCA’s first move against unregistered crypto activity. In June 2024, the agency worked with the Metropolitan Police Service to arrest two individuals suspected of running an illegal crypto asset exchange. The FCA has also previously prosecuted an operator running an illegal network of crypto ATMs.
The U.K. government’s National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing identifies crypto assets as an increasingly common vehicle for laundering proceeds from criminal activity. The FCA says it continues working with domestic and international partners to address that risk.
Smart also directed consumers to use the FCA’s Firm Checker tool before dealing with any crypto firm. He noted that crypto remains a high-risk investment and is largely unregulated in the U.K. outside of anti-money laundering and financial promotion rules.
The FCA has not named the individuals or businesses targeted in Tuesday’s sweep. Investigators have not said when charges, if any, will be filed. For U.S. consumers and investors watching cross-border regulatory trends, the FCA’s move signals that peer-to-peer crypto trading outside licensed platforms is drawing direct law enforcement attention in major markets.
The agency said it will continue using its powers to pursue unregistered operators.
