Response to FCA CP26/36, Cryptoasset Perimeter Guidance

Bitcoin Policy UK responded to the Financial Conduct Authority's consultation paper CP26/36, published on 21 October 2026, which sets out draft perimeter guidance on when cryptoasset activities fall within UK regulation. The response welcomes the FCA's recognition that software and protocols are not persons, that developing software does not automatically amount to a regulated activity and that decentralisation must be assessed against the activity being carried out.

It warns, however, that references to people who influence software development, maintain networks or provide automated technical services could be read too broadly. That could bring Bitcoin Core contributors, node operators, miners and non-custodial wallet providers within rules meant for financial intermediaries and raise costs for smaller UK businesses. Answering questions 1 to 4 and 12 to 14, the response asks the FCA to link responsibility to control rather than influence, to confirm that grants or donations are not enough to establish responsibility, and to state that running a full node, mining or publishing non-custodial wallet software is not, on its own, a regulated activity.

The response also argues that Lightning routing fees and automated fee estimation should not decide regulatory status, that a UK developer's location should not bring the Bitcoin network within UK rules, and that the 24 hour settlement figure should be guidance rather than a fixed limit. It also notes that Bitcoin payments lack the exclusion given to UK qualifying stablecoins, a point BPUK says it will raise with HM Treasury.