UK FCA Finalizes Crypto Licensing Guidance as Treasury Weighs Stablecoin Payment Exemptions

The significance here is sequencing: the FCA has locked a licensing perimeter before the Treasury's stablecoin payment carve-outs are settled, leaving firms to plan authorization against rules that may soon narrow. That gap matters most for stablecoin issuers and DeFi interface operators, whose activities could fall inside or outside the regime depending on how the exemptions land. Whether the promised consultation actually aligns the two tracks is the open question.