TLDR
The UK Treasury is moving to create a single, coherent regulatory framework for digital-asset-based payments, especially stablecoins and tokenised deposits.
- Economic Secretary Lucy Rigby outlined plans for a consultation on a unified regime covering both traditional and tokenised payments, including stablecoins and tokenised deposits.
- The Bank of England and FCA plan to treat key stablecoins as a new form of money, with systemic coins supervised by the central bank and others under the FCA.
- The main milestones will be this consultation, opening of stablecoin authorisation portals later this year, and closer alignment with US rules that will shape how crypto firms operate in the UK.
Deep Dive
1. What The Framework Covers
Lucy Rigby, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, told the FT Digital Assets Summit that the government will consult on a single, coherent framework for both traditional and tokenised payments that spans stablecoins, tokenised deposits and AI-driven payment systems, aiming to streamline oversight and keep administrative burdens proportionate for firms.
This sits alongside an Enhancing Financial Services Bill designed to modernise regulation and support growth, with digital assets framed as having the potential for a complete transformation of UK markets through faster capital flows and more efficient use of capital.
Rather than separate rulebooks for each new crypto product, UK payments regulation is being pulled into one umbrella regime that covers both bank-style money and on-chain payment instruments.
2. How Stablecoins Will Be Treated
Bank of England executive Sasha Mills has said the central bank will accept applications from stablecoin issuers and treat qualifying coins as a new form of money, requiring them to be as robust as existing money and fully redeemable for users.
Under the emerging model, systemic stablecoins widely used for payments will fall under direct Bank of England oversight, while non-systemic coins sit with the FCA, which already runs a sandbox and has selected firms keen to issue GBP stablecoins.
For crypto users and issuers, that means reserve quality, redemption rights and operational resilience will become regulatory requirements, not marketing promises, especially for coins aiming to be used in everyday UK payments or as exchange rails.
3. Timelines And What To Watch
Rigby flagged that portals for stablecoin authorisations are expected to open later this year, with the consultation inviting industry input on the unified framework.
UK regulators are also explicitly seeking to minimise frictions with the US by exploring recognition or alignment mechanisms, which matters for global stablecoin issuers and exchanges that operate across both markets.
Over the next year, the key signals will be which GBP and possibly USD stablecoins secure UK authorisation, how strict reserve and redemption rules are, and which exchanges and fintechs integrate those regulated coins into their payment flows.
Conclusion
The UK is positioning digital assets, particularly stablecoins and tokenised deposits, as part of its mainstream money and payments system rather than an entirely separate crypto niche.
If the unified framework lands as described, it could improve trust and clarity for payment-focused stablecoins while raising the bar on compliance and infrastructure for issuers and service providers that want access to UK users and institutions.
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