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FCA Targets Three London Premises Suspected of Illegal Crypto Trading
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced that it carried out further operations with partners to disrupt illegal peer-to-peer crypto trading across multiple London locations. Working with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and the Metropolitan Police Service on 10 september 2026, the FCA targeted three premises suspected of illegal peer-to-peer crypto trading. Cease and desist letters were issued at all three premises, requiring traders to stop any suspected illegal crypto businesses.
The action was taken under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017.
Peer-to-peer trading is when individuals buy and sell crypto directly with each other. Anyone doing this by way of business in the UK requires appropriate registration. There are currently no FCA-registered peer-to-peer crypto businesses operating in the UK, according to the regulator.
Unregistered peer-to-peer crypto traders operating by way of business can provide a route for criminals to move and launder illicit funds, the FCA said, adding that by operating outside its registration regime they avoid controls designed to detect and prevent money laundering.
Steve Smart, executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: “Working with partners, we continue to track and disrupt illegal crypto activity. Anyone running an unregistered peer-to-peer crypto business should assume we are looking at them.”
Detective Sergeant Sathish Alalasundaram of the Metropolitan Police Service said law enforcement and partner agencies are working to tackle criminal activity involving digital assets, and that the complex nature of cryptocurrency and the speed at which funds can be moved across jurisdictions present ongoing challenges for investigators. “As criminals continue to adapt their methods, the Met Police continues to evolve and adapt our investigative capabilities and disruption tactics to bring those who break the law to justice,” he said.
april 2026 Operation
The September action follows an operation the FCA led in april 2026 against illegal peer-to-peer crypto trading businesses. Evidence gathered during that operation is being used to support criminal investigations and other enforcement action, the regulator said.
In April, the FCA worked with HMRC and the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SWROCU) to target eight premises suspected of illegal peer-to-peer crypto trading, issuing cease and desist letters at each site notifying traders to stop illegal activity immediately. Evidence obtained during the on-site inspections is supporting a number of ongoing criminal investigations.
The FCA updated its April announcement on 18 mei 2026 to state that where the activity is carried out by way of business in the UK it requires appropriate registration and is illegal without it, while peer-to-peer transactions carried out on a personal basis do not require FCA registration.
At the time, Smart said unregistered peer-to-peer crypto traders operating in the UK do so illegally and pose a financial crime risk. DI Ross Flay of SWROCU said the agencies aimed to stop the traders providing a route for criminals to move, disguise and spend illegal money. The FCA also noted that the Government’s National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing outlines how cryptoassets are increasingly used to launder the proceeds of crime.
Earlier Crypto Enforcement
The FCA said its track record in tackling illegal cryptoasset activity includes prosecuting the operator of an unlawful crypto ATM network and supporting the arrest of two individuals suspected of running an illegal crypto exchange. In juni 2024, the FCA worked with the Metropolitan Police Service to arrest two individuals suspected of running an illegal cryptoasset exchange.
Olumide Osunkoya, 46, was sentenced on 28 februari 2025 to four years in prison for illegal crypto activity worth over £2.5 million and associated offences, in what the FCA said was the UK’s first sentencing for unregistered cryptoasset activity. Between 30 december 2021 and 12 maart 2022, Osunkoya operated crypto ATMs at 28 different locations via his company, GidiPlus Ltd, despite being refused registration with the FCA. He later transferred the machines from GidiPlus and personally operated a reduced network of up to 12 crypto ATMs under a false name and company to evade detection. Osunkoya pleaded guilty on 30 september 2024 to five charges and was also convicted and sentenced for forgery, using false identity documents, and possessing criminal property. At the Southwark Crown Court hearing, the FCA requested that the court initiate confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 to recover any financial benefit obtained from the criminality.
That case followed an FCA operation, conducted with law enforcement partners, against illegal crypto ATMs across the country. In 2023, the FCA visited 38 locations and disrupted 30 machines, and the number of crypto ATMs advertised on CoinATMRadar in the UK fell from more than 80 in 2022 to nil in 2024, according to the regulator.
The FCA has been the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing supervisor of UK cryptoasset businesses since 10 januari 2020. It said crypto is a high-risk investment and remains largely unregulated in the UK, except for anti-money laundering and financial promotion requirements, until oktober 2027. The regulator directed consumers to its Firm Checker tool to check whether a crypto firm is correctly registered, and said it continues to work with partners across the UK and abroad to fight financial crime and protect consumers.
