The UK regulator has carried out coordinated enforcement action across London, targeting unregistered peer-to-peer crypto traders alongside law enforcement partners.
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has carried out its first coordinated operation to disrupt illegal peer-to-peer crypto trading, targeting multiple locations across London as part of a joint enforcement effort.
Working alongside HM Revenue & Customs and the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit, the regulator visited eight premises suspected of facilitating unregistered crypto trading activity. Cease-and-desist notices were issued at each site, with evidence gathered during the inspections now supporting a number of ongoing criminal investigations.
The action, announced on 22 April, marks the first time the FCA has conducted an operation of this kind specifically targeting peer-to-peer crypto trading, where individuals transact directly with one another rather than through a centralised exchange. Under UK rules, such activity requires registration with the regulator, yet the FCA confirmed that there are currently no registered peer-to-peer crypto trading firms operating in the country.
Steve Smart, Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight at the FCA, said: “Unregistered peer-to-peer crypto traders operating in the UK are doing so illegally and pose a financial crime risk. We will use our powers and work with partners to disrupt them.”
“Consumers should protect themselves by only dealing with firms registered with the FCA and by remembering that crypto remains a high risk investment.”
Law enforcement partners framed the activity within broader financial crime risks linked to digital assets.
Detective Inspector Ross Flay of the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit said: “By working with our colleagues at the FCA and HMRC we are able to effectively target and disrupt unregistered peer-to-peer crypto traders operating illegally. As law enforcement, we want to stop these traders providing a route for criminals to move, disguise and spend illegal money.”
Tackling crypto AML head on
The operation sits within a wider UK regulatory framework that currently focuses on anti-money laundering and financial promotion controls for cryptoassets, rather than a fully comprehensive regime governing all aspects of the market. Enforcement action in this case was taken under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017.
The FCA has previously taken action against unregistered cryptoasset activity, including the prosecution of an individual linked to an illegal network of crypto ATMs. In June 2024, the regulator also worked with the Metropolitan Police to arrest two individuals suspected of operating an unregistered cryptoasset exchange.
The UK Government’s National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing has identified cryptoassets as an increasingly used channel for laundering the proceeds of crime, with regulators continuing to coordinate with law enforcement agencies in response.
