Originally published by Bank of England on 2025-11-10
La Bank of England présente sa vision de la supervision des stablecoins en livre sterling
La Bank of England a proposé un régime réglementaire dédié aux stablecoins systémiques libellés en livres sterling, marquant un tournant décisif pour les paiements numériques au Royaume-Uni. Nous analysons les exigences clés et leurs implications pour le marché.
When the Bank of England publishes a consultation paper with a preface by its Governor, Andrew Bailey, the financial services sector takes notice. The November 2025 paper on systemic sterling-denominated stablecoins is no exception: it sets out the central bank's most detailed vision to date for regulating digital payment tokens in the United Kingdom.
Stablecoins as payment infrastructure
The core principle behind the Bank's proposal is clear: stablecoins that become widely used for everyday payments could threaten the UK's financial stability and therefore require regulation proportionate to that risk. This is not a theoretical concern. Global stablecoin transaction volumes exceeded $33 trillion in 2025, and the Bank is preparing to manage the systemic implications before they materialize rather than after.
What sets this proposal apart from earlier regulatory approaches is its focus on the "systemic" threshold. Non-systemic stablecoins — those not yet widely adopted for payments — remain under the sole supervision of the FCA. But once a stablecoin enters systemic territory, it moves into a dual regulatory regime supervised by both the Bank of England and the FCA.
Collateral requirements
The most consequential aspect of the proposal concerns how stablecoin issuers must back their tokens. The Bank proposes that systemic issuers hold part of their backing assets in short-term UK government debt and maintain deposit accounts with the Bank of England itself. This is a remarkable development: it effectively integrates stablecoin issuers into the same financial infrastructure that underpins traditional banking.
For users, this matters because it addresses the fundamental question that has shadowed the stablecoin market since its inception: when you hold a stablecoin, can you actually redeem it at face value in fiat currency? The Bank's answer is to require exactly that — "stability of par value, a robust legal right, and the ability to always redeem at par in fiat currency."
Implications for the UK digital payments landscape
The practical implications extend well beyond issuers alone.
Source: Bank of England