Important: this article is general education, not personal financial, tax or investment advice. Cryptoassets are high risk and largely unregulated in the UK; you could lose all the money you put in. Check current rules with HMRC or a qualified adviser. Before you invest, consider speaking to a regulated independent financial adviser; free guidance is available from MoneyHelper.
Short answer: Before you transfer money or upload identity documents, check the crypto firm on the FCA Register yourself. Search the legal name and any firm reference number on the Financial Services Register, and read the status and the activities. Match the address, website and phone number to the firm that contacted you, then search the same name on the FCA warning list through ScamSmart. Anti-money-laundering registration is a financial-crime check. It is not investor protection, and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme and the Financial Ombudsman Service usually do not cover crypto losses. If the details do not match, do not pay.
In this guide
- What FCA registration means for a crypto firm
- What registration does not protect
- How to search the Register
- Clone firms and how to spot them
- Using ScamSmart and the warning list
- Red flags before you deposit
- If you have already sent money
- FAQ
What FCA registration means for a crypto firm
UK crypto firms are often described as “FCA registered”. That phrase is easy to misread. For many cryptoasset businesses, registration exists because of the money laundering regulations, not because the firm has been authorised to offer investments.
Cryptoasset exchange providers and custodian wallet providers carrying on business in the UK have had to register with the FCA before they start. The FCA looks at whether the firm can meet standards aimed at stopping money laundering and terrorist financing. In practice that covers how the firm identifies customers, watches transactions, keeps records, and whether the people running it are suitable for that role. The public record of that registration sits on the Financial Services Register.
You will often be asked for a photo identity document and proof of address before you can deposit. Those checks are part of the firm’s legal duties. They are not a review of whether the product suits you, and they are not a warranty that the firm will still be there next year.
“Registered” and “authorised” are different words on the same Register. Authorised means the FCA has given the firm permission to carry on particular regulated financial activities. Registered, in the crypto context, usually means the firm is supervised for anti-money-laundering purposes for stated cryptoasset activities. Some businesses are both: authorised for one service, and registered for cryptoasset activity.
Open the record and read the activities. A permission that relates to insurance, consumer credit or something else does not mean a crypto wallet or exchange service on the same website is regulated. The line that matters is the line that describes the service you are about to use.
The rules in this area have been changing, and they can change again. Some services may need a form of authorisation as well as, or instead of, anti-money-laundering registration. This article cannot freeze that position in time. Before you rely on a firm’s claim, read the live entry and the FCA page on cryptoassets for consumers.
What registration does not protect
The gap that matters most is what happens if the firm fails, is hacked, freezes withdrawals, or the asset itself becomes worthless.
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme can pay compensation when certain authorised firms fail, for example some bank deposits, up to a limit set in the scheme rules. Cryptoassets held at an exchange or with a wallet firm usually sit outside that scheme. If the price collapses, or the firm cannot return what you bought, FSCS protection is generally not there. Money-laundering registration does not switch it on.
Bank deposits are a different product. Money held as a deposit at a bank may fall under FSCS rules, up to a limit that changes, so check the current figure with the FSCS rather than a number quoted in a chat. Transferring that money to a crypto firm is often the point at which deposit protection no longer applies. Once you have bought a cryptoasset, you usually hold the cryptoasset, not an FSCS-protected deposit.
The Financial Ombudsman Service looks at many complaints about regulated activities. It is not a complaints desk for every online purchase. Unregulated crypto is usually outside its scope, so it cannot order repayment. Where a firm also has a regulated permission, only the regulated part is likely to be in scope. Ask the ombudsman if your complaint qualifies. Do not pay a third party an advance fee to do that asking.
There is a further limit. A correct Register entry says nothing about future conduct. The firm can still suffer an outage or a security breach, change its terms, or freeze an account while it asks for more documents. Registration does not protect you against that, or against a fall in price. A steady return, a protected balance or a guaranteed buy-back is a marketing claim, not a feature of FCA registration. The FCA does not promise that you will get your money back.
A Register entry will not tell you whether the product suits your circumstances. If you need the money for rent or bills, or you are acting on a group chat, an FRN does not fix that. The wider patterns, including rug pulls, are covered in our crypto scams guide. The Register answers whether this is the listed firm for this activity. It does not answer whether you should put money in.
How to search the Register
Use the FCA’s own Financial Services Register, not a screenshot sent by the firm and not a copy of the logo on a landing page. Search before you create an account if you can, and search again on the day you plan to move a larger sum.
- Type the firm’s legal name into the search. Then search any trading name it has used in emails, on the app store or on the website. Small differences matter. “Limited”, “Ltd”, “Group” and an extra word can point to a different record.
- If the firm quotes a firm reference number, search that number on its own. Then check that the legal name on the result is the same organisation, not a firm with a similar name in another line of business.
- Open the full record. Read the status first. You are looking for a current registration or authorisation that covers the service you plan to use. A record showing the firm is no longer registered, or no longer authorised, for that activity is a stop sign, whatever the website still claims.
- Read the activities or permissions one by one. Confirm there is an entry that matches the crypto service on offer, such as exchange or custody, if that is what you are being sold. An unrelated permission does not cover it.
- Read trading names, the address, the website and any published phone number or email domain. They should match the firm that contacted you. A different domain or a different phone number is a mismatch, even if the legal name is perfect.
- Check whether the record is for the firm itself or for an appointed representative of someone else. If it is an appointed representative, open the principal firm’s record and see what that principal is actually permitted to do. Do not borrow the principal’s reputation for a service the record does not mention.
- Repeat the search just before you pay. Status can change. A check you did when you first heard the name is not a check of today’s position.
If no record matches, the firm is not on the Register under the name or number you were given. Do not accept a story that the Register is “behind” or that a new brand is waiting to appear. Ask for the legal name and FRN, look them up yourself, and walk away if they will not provide them.
A Companies House number only shows that a company has been formed. It does not show FCA registration. Scams often place a real company number next to a false regulatory claim.
Clone firms and how to spot them
A clone copies a real firm’s identity. Criminals take a legal name, an FRN and sometimes a postal address from the Register, then send you to a website, app or phone number they control. The genuine firm is listed. The place your money would go is not.
Compare the contact path, not just the name. The domain should match the website on the Register, character by character. An extra letter, a hyphen or a different ending is a reason to stop. So is a phone number or email domain that the Register does not show. A free webmail address is not the firm, even where the signature includes a real FRN.
Do not accept a screenshot of the Register from the seller. Search the official site yourself.
If anything clashes, use only the details printed on the Register. Do not open links from the message you are checking. Ask, through the official details, whether they contacted you. If they did not, you have found a clone. Do not send a test payment to see what happens, and do not upload photo ID to a site that failed this comparison.
Using ScamSmart and the warning list
The Register tells you who is listed. The FCA warning list, reached through ScamSmart, tells you about firms and promotions the FCA has warned the public about. Use it as well as the Register, not as a substitute.
Search the name, the brand and the website. If a warning appears, stop and read it. It may name an unauthorised firm, a clone, or a promotion that should not be live. Do not let the caller explain the warning away.
No result is not a clean bill of health. The FCA does not hear about every scam, and new sites appear every day. Missing from the warning list does not make a firm safe, and it does not create FSCS or ombudsman cover. A Register entry also does not cancel a warning about a clone with a similar name. The two results need to point to the same legal firm you are about to pay.
You can report a suspicious firm or promotion through ScamSmart. A report may warn the next person. It is not a route that returns your money.
Red flags before you deposit
Treat any one of these as a reason to pause, even if a similar name is on the Register.
- Pressure to pay today, or a bonus that disappears if you wait.
- A promise of fixed or “safe” returns. Prices can fall, and you can lose everything you put in.
- An approach you did not ask for: a cold call, a direct message, a dating-app chat, or a group offering trade signals.
- Any request for remote access to your device, or for a seed phrase or private key.
- A demand to pay a personal account, a different company, or a wallet address pasted into a chat.
- Being told to give your bank a false reason for the payment.
- A promotion aimed at people in the UK with no clear warning that you can lose all your money. Promotion rules change, so check the current standard on the FCA page on cryptoassets for consumers.
- A fee, tax code or verification payment demanded before a withdrawal is released.
An FRN recited in the same conversation does not cancel the flag.
If you have already sent money
If you have already paid, stop further payments before you do anything else.
Do not send an unlock fee, a tax payment or a recovery fee. Do not share a seed phrase, and do not install remote-access software for anyone offering to fix the account.
Phone your bank or card provider on the number printed on the card or in the official app. Say it may be fraud and ask what, if anything, they can still do. Some payments cannot be reversed. Do not assume you will get a refund.
Save dates, amounts, names, wallet addresses, transaction references, screenshots and any FRN you were shown. Report the firm through ScamSmart, and report the fraud to Action Fraud or the successor route published on GOV.UK.
Expect a follow-up from someone offering recovery for a fee paid up front. You do not have to reply.
Disposals of cryptoassets, including at a loss, can raise UK crypto tax questions. This is not tax advice. Check HMRC or a qualified adviser before you file.
FAQ
If a firm is on the FCA Register, is my crypto protected?
No. The record shows that the firm is registered, authorised, or both, for named activities. It is not insurance and it is not a promise of repayment. Compensation scheme and ombudsman cover usually do not apply to the crypto activity itself.
The firm is not on the Register. Should I pay anyway?
Treat that as a stop. If the firm claims FCA registration and the legal name or FRN is not on the live Register, do not pay. Sitting outside the registration perimeter is not the same as being authorised or protected. Confirm the current position on the FCA page on cryptoassets for consumers.
What is a clone firm?
A clone copies a listed firm’s name and often its FRN, then uses a website, app or caller the listed firm does not control. Compare the domain, email and phone number with the Register entry you looked up yourself.
The firm is not on the warning list. Is that reassuring?
No. The warning list is not a list of safe firms. It only includes firms and promotions the FCA has warned about, and new scams will be missing from it. Check the Register as well. Neither search is a reason to buy.
