According to the FCA's latest research on consumer attitudes and behaviours towards crypto, 12% of UK adults now own crypto.

Awareness of crypto also rose from 91% to 93%. The average value of crypto held by people increased from £1,595 to £1,842. Respondents told the FCA that information from family and friends was the most common source of information for those who had never bought crypto. 10% of people say they did not do any research before buying crypto.

Around a third of people said they believed they could raise a complaint with the FCA if something went wrong and were seeking recourse or financial protection, but this is not the case. 

Currently, crypto is largely unregulated in the UK and high-risk. However, the FCA is now responsible for regulating cryptoasset promotions. This regime came into effect on 8 October 2023. In the first year of the regime, the FCA has taken significant action against firms illegally promoting to UK consumers. This includes issuing 1702 alerts, taking down over 900 scam crypto websites and over 50 apps.

The FCA’s research comes as it has published an indicative roadmap of key dates for developing and introducing a new regulatory regime for crypto in the UK. This follows the UK government's confirmation of a single timetable for HM Treasury's work on the new regulated activities for stablecoins and the new regulatory regime for cryptoassets.

The roadmap sets out a series of focused consultations. This approach aims to make policy development transparent. The FCA anticipates that all policy statements and finalised rules will be published in 2026, with the FCA's cryptoasset regime taking effect after that. However, the roadmap is not exhaustive, and all timelines may change depending on parliamentary time and guidance from the government.

Separately, the FCA has published a new webpage for regulated and registered firms setting out the risks of partnering with unregistered cryptoasset firms that may be illegally promoting to UK consumers. It sets out:

• the harms that are likely to arise when regulated/registered firms provide services to unregistered cryptoasset firms who appear to be illegally promoting;
• the risks regulated/registered firms could be exposing themselves to by providing services to unregistered cryptoasset firms who appear to be illegally promoting; and
• examples of positive steps taken by regulated/registered firms to address the FCA's concerns.