The UK financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), proposed allowing certain retail investment funds to hold up to 10% of their assets in cryptocurrency exchange-traded notes (ETNs).
The financial regulator made the proposal for UCITS (“undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities”) and some non-UCITS retail schemes (NURS) to invest in crypto-ETNs in its latest quarterly consultation document.
UCITS and NURS are similar to mutual funds in the US in that they are regulated, open-ended structures that pool money from retail investors into managed portfolios.
“Our proposed 10% limit for UCITS and NURS would also reduce the risk of significant impacts from crypto-ETN exposure,” the FCA wrote.
The FCA’s proposal marks another step towards wider acceptance of crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) in the UK under the ETN banner. The regulator only allowed retail investors to access such funds in October 2025, lifting a ban that had been in place since 2021.
Investment instruments that allow users to gain exposure to cryptocurrency without having to purchase and hold the assets themselves have been at the forefront of mainstream crypto adoption for several years. The regulatory hurdles to their wider use in the UK have drawn criticism from commentators who say it risks putting the country at a disadvantage compared to its peers.
