The U.K. has opened a five-month window for cryptocurrency companies to apply for authorization under the country’s forthcoming digital asset regulatory framework.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) launched its “authorization gateway” on Wednesday. Firms have until the end of February 2027 to submit applications, ahead of the framework’s planned start in October 2027.

The regulatory overhaul follows years of legislative work. The U.K. began laying the groundwork for crypto regulation in 2022, but its progress has lagged behind some other jurisdictions, including the European Union.

The EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) Regulation became effective in June 2023, around the same time the U.K.’s relevant legislation was being enacted.

The timetable for the U.K. regime became clearer late last year, when the FCA announced that the new framework would come into effect in October 2027. The regulator subsequently set the application period ahead of the planned launch.

Companies now have five months to prepare and file their authorization requests. Firms that already hold registration under the FCA’s existing crypto regime may have completed some of the necessary compliance work, given that the current system has focused largely on anti-money laundering requirements.

Zumo, an Edinburgh-based crypto infrastructure company, is one of more than 60 firms registered under the existing regime. The company received its registration in 2021 and has created a “U.K. Cryptoasset Regulation Tracker” to help businesses understand the upcoming rules and follow key regulatory deadlines.

“Everyone else publishing a tracker is a law firm or consultancy. We’re developing ours as industry operators,” Zumo founder and CEO Nick Jones said in an emailed announcement Wednesday.

Jones said the tracker was built by examining the regulatory regime down to individual obligations, linking each requirement to the relevant regulated activity and updating the information as new regulatory papers are issued.