Aave Wins UK FCA Registration for Crypto Exchange Services

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The registration falls under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds Regulations 2017 (MLR 2017). It allows Push to conduct cryptoasset exchange activities while meeting UK anti-money laundering and KYC obligations. Push Labs Ltd. holds FCA reference number 1031720 and Push Virtual Assets Ltd. holds FRN 1031721. Both are wholly owned subsidiaries of Aave Labs.

What Push Plans to Offer

According to Aave Labs, Push will deliver zero-fee stablecoin on- and off-ramping in the UK. That includes support for GHO, Aave’s native stablecoin, alongside other stablecoins.

The goal is to bridge traditional finance and the on-chain Aave ecosystem. Users would convert fiat to stablecoins (and back) through Push’s regulated rails, then interact with Aave’s decentralized lending protocol directly.

“We are pleased to now be registered as cryptoasset service providers in the UK,” said Stani Kulechov, Founder and CEO of Aave Labs. “Our FCA EMI authorisation and cryptoasset registrations provide the regulatory foundation to deliver next-generation, zero-fee onchain consumer financial products in the UK.”

Aave Labs FCA Registration Builds on EEA Approval

The UK registration follows Push Virtual Assets Ireland Limited’s MiCAR CASP authorisation from the Central Bank of Ireland in November 2025. That approval covers operations across the European Economic Area.

With both the UK and EEA now covered, Aave Labs holds regulatory permissions across two major Western markets. Kulechov noted that the firm is “well positioned to scale product development and deliver secure, trusted user experiences across these markets.”

Push Labs Ltd. was incorporated in October 2018, while Push Virtual Assets Ltd. was incorporated in November 2022. The multi-year gap between incorporation and registration suggests a lengthy application process, though exact filing dates remain undisclosed.

How FCA Crypto Registration Works

The FCA’s cryptoasset registration regime under MLR 2017 requires firms that exchange cryptoassets for fiat (or other crypto) to register for AML supervision. Registered firms must conduct customer due diligence, monitor transactions, and report suspicious activity.

This is narrower than full FCA authorisation under the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA). Registered firms do not hold broader permissions or face the capital requirements of fully authorised institutions. Several centralised exchanges, including Coinbase, Gemini, and Kraken, already hold similar registrations.

The Aave protocol itself remains decentralized and non-custodial. Push operates as a separate, regulated entity that handles the fiat side. The protocol’s smart contracts continue to function independently, without intermediaries.

Market Reaction Following the Aave FCA Approval

According to DefiLlama, Aave’s total value locked stands at approximately $13.67 billion. Ethereum accounts for $11.06 billion of that total, with additional deployments across Arbitrum, Base, Avalanche, and other chains.

AAVE token price sits in the $80 to $87 range, with modest 24-hour declines of 1% to 4%. Trading volume ranges between $175 million and $257 million. No clear immediate price reaction to the announcement is visible yet.

Community sentiment on X is overwhelmingly positive. Reactions include phrases like “huge W for Aave” and “massive for DeFi adoption.” No notable criticism or DeFi-purist pushback has surfaced in early discussion.

What Comes Next for Push in the UK

Several questions remain open. Aave Labs has not disclosed an exact launch timeline for Push’s UK products. The specific relationship between Push’s centralised ramps and the on-chain protocol still needs further detail.

Coverage has appeared rapidly on Finextra, Crypto.news, and Cointelegraph. As of publication, no in-depth reporting from CoinDesk, The Block, Bloomberg, or Reuters has surfaced.

The long-term significance of the Aave FCA approval may ultimately depend less on the registration itself and more on whether Push can successfully turn regulated crypto infrastructure into widely used consumer products.