Study Finds Nearly Six in Ten Firms Lack Crypto Trading Policies

The Fifth Annual StarCompliance Crypto & Compliance Market Study highlights incremental progress, even as employee crypto trading policy gaps persist

ROCKVILLE, Md., Feb. 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — StarCompliance (Star), a leading provider of employee and firm compliance technology, today released the key findings from its Fifth Annual Crypto & Compliance Market Study, offering a snapshot of how firms are managing employee crypto trading. The study assesses firms’ readiness to monitor employee crypto transactions and holdings while highlighting critical compliance gaps.

The study found that 63 percent of firms globally permit employee crypto trading without pre-approval, revealing a material compliance gap at a time of heightened regulatory scrutiny of digital assets worldwide.

Additionally, 79 percent of firms globally do not plan to implement a crypto trading policy in 2026, leaving them exposed to a broad range of conflicts of interest, including insider trading and the mishandling of material, nonpublic information.

“As digital asset regulation matures into clear, defined standards globally, firms can move forward with greater confidence in building comprehensive compliance programs,” said Steve Brown, Head of Business Development at Star. “Our data shows that firms which formalized employee crypto trading policies early are better positioned as regulations take shape, while those without clear controls now face growing pressure to catch up using established regulatory roadmaps.”

Key findings include: 

• Crypto Dealing Governance Remains Dangerously Immature
  • 63 percent of respondents report no formal employee crypto-trading policy
  • 37 percent confirm one is in place, underscoring a significant policy gap across firms

• Limited Visibility Creates Critical Control Gap
  • More than 50 percent of respondents chose lack of visibility as the primary challenge in monitoring crypto trading and detecting conflicts or misuse of MNPI

• Regulatory Readiness Lags Behind Regulatory Momentum
  • 75 percent of respondents describing their organizations as “somewhat unprepared” or “very unprepared” to manage crypto, tokenization, and prediction-market risks

• Passive Approaches Dominate Despite Clear Regulatory Direction
  Firms are divided in their regulatory response in preparation for tokenized assets and digital market regulations

• • 46 percent report a “wait-and-see” approach
  • 25 percent are planning but have not yet acted
  • Only 21 percent are taking aggressive steps
  • Eight percent are unaware

Star delivers an industry-leading Crypto Dealing & Tokenized Asset Compliance Solutions, offering automated pre-clearance, real-time risk detection, and continuous monitoring empowering employees who want to trade and sell crypto to do so easily while providing the business with the visibility they need to protect their business.

About StarCompliance 

StarCompliance is a leading provider of employee and firm compliance technology solutions. Trusted for over 25 years by millions of users in 120 countries, StarCompliance Enterprise Platform provides a user-friendly interface that connects people, workflows and data, delivering the technology and actionable insights needed to proactively mitigate risk and monitor conflicts globally. Visit StarCompliance: Regulatory Employee Compliance Software to discover the comprehensive security and unparalleled assurance you need to build a connected culture of compliance today.

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SOURCE StarCompliance