Matthew Long: The UK’s Crypto Gatekeeper

If the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the gateway for crypto firms to operate in the U.K., then Matthew Long holds the key. As the FCA’s director of payments and digital assets, Long has overseen a strict regime that requires firms to follow anti-money laundering rules, resulting in only four crypto firms being approved to do business in the country in 2024. Overall, 48 firms have been approved out of the 365 that have applied.

And the regulator’s power is only set to increase. Long, who leads policy development for the crypto sector, held a series of roundtables earlier this year on the U.K.’s incoming crypto regime and the FCA also said that it intends to release a series of papers to gather industry thoughts on stablecoins, trading platforms, staking and more, with the intention of firming up final rules for the sector by 2026.

Long will thus be building an even bigger gate with more permissions and a whole new authorization regime, leaving the industry waiting outside, wondering if they will be able to get in.

This profile is part of CoinDesk’s Most Influential 2024 package. For all of this year’s nominees, click here.