How to check if a crypto exchange is registered in the US, UK or Canada

Before you send money to a crypto exchange, it’s worth five minutes to check whether it’s allowed to serve customers where you live. All three countries have official registers you can search for free. This guide shows where they are, how to read them, and what registration does, and doesn’t, mean.

A note before you start: registers change. A platform can be registered today and restricted tomorrow, so check the official register yourself instead of relying on any list, including ours.

United Kingdom: the FCA

Today: registration under the Money Laundering Regulations

Crypto businesses that provide in-scope services in the UK must register with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under the Money Laundering Regulations before they start. The FCA describes registration as a legal requirement to carry on that business.

How to check:

1. Search the firm’s name on the FCA’s Financial Services Register. For crypto firms, the register shows whether the firm is registered under the Money Laundering Regulations.
2. Check the FCA’s Warning List of firms known to be running scams or operating without permission.
3. Contact the firm only through the website and phone number shown on the FCA Register. Scammers set up “clone firms” that copy a real firm’s name, address and reference number.

What FCA registration does not give you

The FCA is explicit: being registered as a cryptoasset business does not mean customers are protected by the Financial Ombudsman Service or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). Registered firms have to tell you this before you do business with them.

In other words, registration means the FCA has checked the firm’s anti-money-laundering controls. It doesn’t mean your crypto is insured if the firm fails or is hacked.

From October 2027: full FCA authorization

The UK is moving crypto into mainstream financial regulation. Under the new regime, firms such as trading platforms, intermediaries, custodians, stablecoin issuers and firms arranging staking will need FCA authorization under the Financial Services and Markets Act, not just registration.

• The application window opened on 30 September 2026 and closes on 28 February 2027.
• The new regime comes into force on 25 October 2027.

Until then, the registration check above is the one that applies.

Canada: provincial securities regulators

In Canada, crypto trading platforms, which sometimes call themselves “crypto exchanges”, must be regulated by a Canadian securities regulator. That means registering with provincial or territorial securities regulators, which coordinate through the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA). The CSA notes that platforms located outside Canada that serve Canadians must also be registered in Canada.

Registered platforms must meet conditions meant to protect investors, including controls to protect clients’ crypto and cash, managing their risks including cybersecurity, limiting which crypto assets they trade, delivering crypto or cash when a client asks for it, and giving clients enough information.

How to check: the CSA’s page Crypto Platforms: Regulation and Enforcement Actions links to four lists:

• Authorized: crypto platforms authorized to do business with Canadians. This is the list the CSA recommends you use.
• Undertakings: platforms still seeking registration that have signed a pre-registration undertaking, a commitment to follow investor-protection conditions while their application is reviewed. Signing one doesn’t mean the platform will be registered.
• Expired decisions.
• Banned: platforms banned in one or more Canadian jurisdictions. The CSA strongly urges Canadians to avoid them.

FINTRAC registration is a different thing

Businesses that deal in virtual currency must also register with FINTRAC, Canada’s financial intelligence unit, as money services businesses. FINTRAC itself says that registration doesn’t mean it endorses or licenses the business; it only shows the business has met the legal requirement to register. For investor protection, the securities regulators’ lists above are the ones that matter.

United States: federal and state

There’s no single national crypto-exchange license in the US. Instead, several layers apply.

Federal: FinCEN registration

FinCEN, the Treasury’s financial crimes bureau, treats an exchanger of convertible virtual currency as a money transmitter, which must register as a money services business (MSB). Simply using crypto doesn’t require registration.

You can search the MSB Registrant Search on FinCEN’s website. But read FinCEN’s own disclaimer: inclusion in the search is not a recommendation, certification of legitimacy, or endorsement by any government agency, and FinCEN does not license or vet the information registrants provide. A FinCEN listing tells you a business filed a registration. It doesn’t tell you the business is safe.

State licenses: NMLS Consumer Access

Most states require money transmitter licenses. NMLS Consumer Access is a free public search where you can confirm whether a money services company is licensed in your state. Search by the company’s NMLS ID, or by its name.

New York: the NYDFS list

New York has its own regime, often called the BitLicense. The New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) publishes a list of regulated virtual currency entities, with the type of license or charter and the date it was granted. If you live in New York, check that the platform appears there.

Futures and options: the CFTC

If someone offers you futures or options on crypto, including bitcoin, the CFTC advises you to verify that they’re registered with the CFTC. Leveraged crypto trading is covered in more detail in our guide to crypto leverage and derivatives rules.

A five-minute checklist

Before depositing money with any crypto platform:

1. Find the legal name of the company that would hold your money. It’s usually in the terms of service, and it may differ from the brand name.
2. Search that name on your country’s register: the FCA Register (UK), the CSA lists (Canada), or NMLS Consumer Access plus your state regulator (US).
3. Check the warning and ban lists: the FCA Warning List, the CSA banned list.
4. Reach the firm only through official contact details, such as those on the FCA Register, not links from ads, messages or social media.
5. Read what protection you actually get. In the UK, registered crypto firms must tell you there’s no FSCS or Ombudsman protection. In Canada, the CSA warns that platforms that don’t comply with securities law may not adequately safeguard your assets.

Warning signs that a platform isn’t legitimate

• It isn’t on any register in your country, or the details on the register don’t match the website you’re using.
• It contacted you first, through a message, a social media DM, a dating app or a “friend”.
• It promises guaranteed or unusually high returns.
• It asks you to pay “taxes” or “fees” before you can withdraw your own money.
• It pressures you to act quickly, or to keep the investment secret.

If you think you’ve found a scam, or you’ve lost money, see our guide to crypto scams and where to report them.

Registration lowers the risk, it doesn’t remove it

Regulators in all three countries repeat the same message: crypto is high-risk even on a registered platform. The CFTC points out that most crypto cash markets are not regulated or supervised by a government agency and may lack critical safeguards, including customer protections. The CSA says crypto assets are a very risky investment regardless of the platform. Checking the register screens out a lot of fraud, but it doesn’t make an investment safe.