UK cracks down on illegal peer-to-peer crypto trading in nationwide raids

The Financial Conduct Authority has raided eight locations suspected of illegal peer-to-peer crypto trading, issuing cease-and-desist orders.

The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has raided multiple sites suspected of running illegal peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto trading operations.

The financial services and markets watchdog said Wednesday that it worked alongside HM Revenue & Customs and the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit to inspect eight locations linked to illegal crypto trading. Officials issued cease-and-desist notices on site, ordering operators to halt activity immediately, while gathering evidence tied to ongoing criminal investigations.

“Unregistered peer-to-peer crypto traders operating in the UK are doing so illegally and pose a financial crime risk,” Steve Smart, the FCA’s executive director of enforcement and market oversight, said.

P2P crypto trading allows individuals to buy and sell digital assets directly, bypassing centralized exchanges. In the UK, such activity requires registration under anti-money laundering rules. The FCA said no peer-to-peer crypto traders or platforms are currently registered with the regulator.

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The raids mark the FCA’s first operation of this kind focused on P2P crypto trading, but follow a series of enforcement steps against the sector. Previous actions include prosecutions tied to illegal crypto ATM networks and arrests linked to unlicensed exchanges.

Earlier this month, authorities in the UK and other countries, including the US and Canada, froze millions of dollars linked to crypto scams as part of a coordinated enforcement effort called Operation Atlantic. The operation, carried out in March, was led by agencies including the UK’s National Crime Agency, the US Secret Service and Canadian law enforcement and securities regulators.

Officials said the operation identified more than 20,000 victims across the three countries and secured over $12 million in suspected criminal proceeds. Investigators also traced more than $45 million in additional stolen crypto linked to fraud networks.

“These raids mark a shift under the incoming FSMA crypto regime, unregistered OTC desks are no longer an AML-registration gap, they’re an unauthorised regulated activity, and enforcement will look more like traditional finance,” Slav Demchuk, CEO at AMLBot.com, told Cointelegraph.

He added that unregulated OTC brokers are one of the most consistent chokepoints in illicit flows, including “Iran-linked evasion corridors where actors cut off from regulated exchanges use informal desks to move USDT and BTC in and out of fiat.”

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Earlier this month, the FCA opened a consultation on guidance for its upcoming crypto regulatory regime, which is expected to take effect in 2027. The guidance will cover key areas including stablecoins, trading platforms, custody and staking.

Companies are expected to be able to apply for authorization from September 2026, with full compliance required once the framework is implemented.

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Source: CoinTelegraph