FCA Publishes Consultation Paper on Proposed Rules Regarding the Market Abuse Regime for Cryptoassets

On 16 December 2025, the Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”) published a consultation paper entitled Regulating Cryptoassets: Admissions & Disclosures and Market Abuse Regime for Cryptoassets (the “CP”). This CP follows the discussion paper (DP24/4) published in December 2024 (“DP”). In this CP, the FCA sets out its proposed rules and guidance for admissions and disclosures, as well as the market abuse regime for cryptoassets (“MARC”).

The CP forms part of the FCA’s initiative to publish final rules for the cryptoasset industry ahead of the new regulatory regime, which comes into force on 25 October 2027. The CP has been published alongside two other consultation papers: one on the approach to regulating cryptoasset activities (CP25/40), and another on prudential requirements for cryptoasset firms (CP25/42).

Below, we summarise some of the key changes introduced by the CP regarding the MARC regime and how these may impact businesses operating in this space.

When will MARC apply?

As expected, MARC will apply to qualifying cryptoassets admitted to, or seeking admission on, a cryptoasset trading platform (“CATP”), regardless of geographic location. The regime covers the use and disclosure of inside information and market manipulation and applies to issuers, offerors, and CATPs.

The MARC proposals are framed as a pragmatic, cryptoasset tailored market abuse framework, drawing on the UK Market Abuse Regulation (“UK MAR”) as a reference point. However, it is not intended to replicate UK MAR’s outcomes due to structural differences in cryptoasset markets, including decentralisation, fragmented venues, and the absence of a clear issuer in some cases.

Below, we set out key points from the CP, noting clarifications, modifications, and proposals on which the FCA is seeking industry views.

FCA’s approach to inside information

Following the DP, the FCA has provided further clarity on factors firms should consider when determining whether information constitutes inside information or has been made public. For example, if information has been disclosed on a firm’s own website, or widely accessible social media platforms by an issuer, offeror, or CATP, the information is considered public and should not be treated as inside information.

The FCA has also provided guidance in the form of non-exhaustive examples of inside information, incorporating feedback from the DP. Examples include information about the admission or cancellation of relevant qualifying cryptoassets, information about the viability or instability of a stablecoin, and non-public information concerning code vulnerabilities, among others.

Unlike UK MAR, disclosure responsibilities for inside information are broadened beyond issuers to include offerors and CATPs for information that directly concerns them. This reflects the cryptoasset market’s nature, where multiple parties can be responsible for disclosing inside information.

The FCA has clarified inside information guidance in four areas:

• The types of inside information concerning an issuer, offeror, or CATP.
• When inside information is considered to have been made public.
• A non-exhaustive list of what constitutes inside information.
• Circumstances under which delayed disclosure is permissible.

Regarding dissemination, the FCA sought feedback on three approaches. It has decided to proceed with the third: inside information should be published on the issuer, offeror, or CATP’s own website, and actively disseminated through channels used by market participants (e.g., social media and news outlets). Firms must promptly upload such information to an FCA centralised repository, such as the NSM.

Legitimate Market Practices (“LMPs”) and Safe Harbours

The FCA maintains that LMPs will play an important role in the cryptoasset market. It has provided rules and guidance on specific LMPs to clarify what constitutes legitimate behaviour. Proposed LMPs include:

• Coin burning: removing qualifying cryptoassets from circulation.
• Cryptoasset stabilisation: measures taken to support the price of a cryptoasset during or after its initial or secondary coin offering.
• Legitimate reasons: conduct undertaken for valid reasons will generally not be considered manipulation.

The FCA has confirmed that its approach to market making will mirror UK MAR, as originally set out in the DP.

Market Abuse Systems and Controls

The FCA’s proposals for market abuse systems and controls largely align with the DP. CATPs and intermediaries must implement proportionate systems and controls to prevent, detect, and disrupt market abuse. The rules are based on UK MAR, tailored to the cryptoasset market’s unique characteristics.

All CATPs and intermediaries must, at a minimum, implement systems and controls covering:

• Personal account dealing arrangements.
• Information barriers.
• Employee training on market abuse.
• Record keeping and audit arrangements.
• Contractual powers to disrupt abusive conduct from clients.

Additional CATP specific requirements include platform specific rules and tools to prevent abusive activity, such as warnings to users. Large CATPs, those with over £10 million in annual average revenue over the previous three years, must participate in cross platform information sharing.

The FCA reiterated that, unlike MAR, it will not handle the receipt and assessment of suspicious transaction and order reports, which should only be notified when abuse cannot be adequately addressed. The FCA also decided against introducing “persons discharging managerial responsibilities” disclosure obligations, agreeing with DP respondents that such requirements would be disproportionate for non-issuer entities and difficult to implement.

On Chain Monitoring

The FCA requires only large CATPs to monitor on chain activities. Firms may choose appropriate tools and methods, including blockchain analytics, wallet clustering, and anomaly detection, and must demonstrate their effectiveness. Smaller CATPs and intermediaries should maintain proportionate off chain monitoring capabilities. While on chain monitoring is not mandatory for them, it is encouraged.

Insider Lists

In line with the DP, issuers, offerors, and CATPs must maintain insider lists, and are ultimately responsible for lists maintained by third parties working on their behalf. Requirements are closely aligned with traditional finance standards. The FCA has proposed templates for recording identity details, reasons for inclusion, timing of access, and wallet addresses.

Cross Platform Information Sharing

In the DP, the FCA proposed that CATPs share information to prevent, detect, and disrupt market abuse. In the CP, it now proposes this requirement only for Large CATPs, who must share information with other Large CATPs without unnecessary delay if they have reasonable grounds to suspect market abuse and disclosure is necessary to detect, prevent, or disrupt it. This must comply with secure sharing and data protection obligations.

Concluding Remarks

Moving beyond the strategic direction set out in the DP, this CP translates the FCA’s policy intent into detailed and operationally demanding proposals for a bespoke market abuse regime for cryptoassets. They signal the FCA’s intention to supervise crypto markets with a level of intensity broadly comparable to traditional financial markets, while adapting expectations to the sector’s structural characteristics.

CATPs are clearly positioned as gatekeepers of market integrity, with supervisory focus likely to extend beyond the existence of systems and controls to the quality of firms’ judgement, escalation, and intervention when market abuse risks arise. In this respect, failures to act may prove as significant as failures to prevent.

Firms are likely to face particular challenges in navigating the allocation of disclosure responsibilities across multiple actors, identifying inside information in decentralised environments, and demonstrating that surveillance arrangements are effective in practice rather than merely compliant on paper.

Overall, firms should prepare for a materially more demanding conduct, disclosure, and market abuse compliance regime in the UK cryptoasset market.  The consultation closed on 12 February 2025 and we await the FCA policy statement.