The Bank of England has just opened the doors for feedback on how it plans to police the biggest sterling-pegged stablecoins, the ones that could one day sit alongside cash in your digital wallet.
In a consultation launched today, the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street laid out rules for any stablecoin issuer big enough to rattle the financial system. Think of it as the prudential rulebook for crypto cash that actually matters.
What’s on the table?
- Backing rules: Up to 60% of reserves in short-dated UK gilts, the rest in non-interest-bearing accounts at the Bank itself. New entrants or firms transitioning from lighter FCA oversight get a temporary 95% gilt allowance to ease the shift.
- Liquidity lifeline: The Bank is openly mulling emergency central-bank liquidity for issuers in a pinch, a safety net that doesn’t exist for normal banks.
- Usage caps: £20,000 per individual, £10 million per business. These are explicitly temporary “to prevent runs on traditional deposits” and will be reviewed once the dust settles. No caps at all inside the Digital Securities Sandbox for wholesale experiments.
- Joint regulation: The Bank handles stability and capital; the FCA keeps consumer protection and conduct. HM Treasury will formally recognise systemic stablecoins as “money”.
Sarah Breeden, Deputy Governor for Financial Stability, called it “a pivotal step” toward a full regime in 2026. “We’ve listened to the industry and tweaked the proposals to give everyone certainty,” she said.
Teresa Cameron, Group CEO of Clear Junction, a leading global payment services provider, added “The Bank of England’s consultation on systemic sterling stablecoins confirms a direction of travel that responsible financial institutions have been preparing for. A clear regime for backing assets, holding limits and prudential oversight is essential if stablecoins are to play a meaningful role in UK payments and settlement.
As an FCA-authorised e-money institution serving financial institutions, Clear Junction’s role is to provide the regulated correspondent infrastructure that underpins these developments – secure accounts, resilient access to UK and EU payment systems, and compliant bridges between traditional money and tokenised value. Regulatory clarity supports this model and helps ensure that innovation in digital money scales on foundations that are stable, supervised and trusted.”
Feedback closes 10 February 2026. The Bank plans to publish final rules – plus a detailed Code of Practice – later next year, with the regime live shortly after.
For UK fintechs, this is the clearest signal yet: build big, but build safe.
See Also:
Full Fat, High Caffeine, Maximum Strength – Britcoin | Disruption Banking
