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Blockchain LabTHE VENTURE STUDIO

BLOCKCHAIN LAB BRIEFING · REGULATION

The FCA Says It Raided Three Premises Over Unregistered Crypto Trading

The line that matters is 'by way of business'. A personal transfer is not what the post describes. An unregistered business is.

17 September 2026

All briefings

01

What happened

On 17 September 2026 @TheFCA posted that it had targeted three premises suspected of illegal peer-to-peer crypto trading by individuals operating by way of business in the UK, in a joint operation with HMRC and the Metropolitan Police. The post says unregistered traders can move illicit funds around the controls, and tells anyone running such a business to assume they are being looked at. This snapshot shows 5 reposts, 1 quote, 4 replies and 16 likes.

The post does not name the premises or the people.

02

Why it matters

Peer-to-peer is a description of the matching, not a licence exemption. The agency's phrase is operating by way of business. That is the element that takes a trade outside a private sale in the post's own telling.

This page will not describe how any such business finds customers.

03

The operating layer

A UK firm that matches buyers and sellers, even informally, should read this as an enforcement signal about registration, not as a technology story.

A person sending their own coins is not the fact pattern the post describes.

04

What is verified

The operation, the three premises, the two partner agencies, and the 'by way of business' wording are in the FCA post.

Outcomes, names and charges are not in the text retrieved here.

05

What is still unclear

Whether anyone was arrested or charged.

What activity the agency says crossed into a registrable business.

Any later case report.

06

The catch

'Peer-to-peer' will be read as a ban on transferring crypto to another person. The post is about unregistered businesses. Keep that noun.

WATCH

What builders should watch

  1. 01Any later FCA outcome from the operation.
  2. 02The registration perimeter for UK crypto businesses.
  3. 03That private transfers are not what this note describes.
  4. 04The partner agencies it names: HMRC and the Metropolitan Police.

BOTTOM LINE

The FCA says it visited three premises over suspected unregistered crypto trading carried on as a business, with the tax authority and the Metropolitan Police. The post does not name anyone. It is about operating a business without registration, not about holding an asset.

Sources

Blockchain Lab uses public social posts as reporting leads, not as proof. Every published briefing is assessed against primary sources, available documentation and relevant technical context. Social engagement is not used as evidence of the underlying claim.

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