- The UK’s financial regulator and the Bank of England are easing digital-asset rules, accelerating the country’s global digital-asset hub strategy.
- The FCA finalized rules on capital requirements, disclosures and conduct standards for digital-asset firms, while the Bank of England eased regulations tied to stablecoins.
- The UK has laid the groundwork for a competitive regulatory framework alongside the EU’s MiCA and the US GENIUS Act, though a circulation cap on pound-denominated stablecoins remains in place and a mandatory digital-asset licensing regime is set to begin in 2027.
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The UK’s financial regulator and central bank have moved in quick succession to ease digital-asset rules, adding momentum to the country’s strategy to become a global digital-asset hub.
CoinDesk reported on July 12 that Wirex Chief Executive Officer Chet Shah wrote in a contributed article that recent regulatory changes by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England signal a stronger commitment to fostering the digital-asset industry.
The FCA last month finalized rules covering capital requirements, disclosures and conduct standards for digital-asset firms. The Bank of England also eased stablecoin regulation, withdrawing plans to introduce holding caps and lowering the central-bank reserve ratio required of issuers to 30% from 40%.
Shah wrote that the UK had fallen behind in the global digital-asset market because of its conservative regulatory approach. The latest measures, he said, lay the groundwork for a competitive regime alongside the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, or MiCA, and the US GENIUS Act.
He added that further changes are still needed because the circulation cap for systemically important pound-denominated stablecoins remains set at 40 billion pounds. The UK plans to make a new digital-asset licensing regime mandatory starting in October 2027.