Aave Labs’ UK subsidiaries Push Labs Ltd. and Push Virtual Assets Ltd. received Financial Conduct Authority registration as cryptoasset exchange providers on May 12, marking the company’s first step toward regulated stablecoin on- and off-ramping in Britain.
The FCA approval, announced May 28, covers “certain cryptoasset activities” under the Anti-Money Laundering regime. Push describes itself as “a simple way to move between Euros and stablecoins” and currently operates in Ireland with expansion across European Economic Area countries planned.
“Aave Labs is building for the next million users, and regulated products with zero-fee stablecoin on/off-ramping are necessary to do it,” Aave said in an X announcement.
The registration positions Push ahead of the UK’s broader crypto regulatory overhaul. The Financial Services and Markets Act takes effect in October 2027 and will require full FCA authorization for crypto activities. The FCA has signaled that companies already registered under Money Laundering Regulations will not automatically receive authorization under the new crypto regime, making early registration a strategic advantage.
Aave, the largest decentralized lending protocol with $13.6 billion in total value locked according to DefiLlama, has received protocol DAO backing for the expansion. In April, Aave Labs was granted $25 million in stablecoins and 75,000 AAVE tokens by the DAO.
The move places Push in direct competition with established on- and off-ramping solutions. Coinbase offers zero-fee USDC on-ramping on Base, while Ramp Network, Bleap, and Alchemy Pay provide competing services. Push differentiates through non-custodial infrastructure, meaning the company does not hold custody of users’ funds.
The FCA registration does not specify the exact scope of approved activities, leaving questions about which cryptoasset operations Push can conduct immediately versus those requiring additional authorization under FSMA.
What This Means
For Aave, the registration validates its strategy to serve retail users through regulated on-ramping. The UK approval provides a regulatory foothold before October 2027, when comprehensive crypto rules take effect. For the broader DeFi ecosystem, it signals that major protocols are willing to pursue traditional financial regulation to scale beyond crypto-native audiences.
