Originally published by Bank of England on 2025-11-10
The Bank of England Outlines Its Vision for Supervising Sterling Stablecoins
La Bank of England ha proposto un quadro normativo dedicato alle stablecoin sistemiche denominate in sterline, segnando una svolta decisiva per i pagamenti digitali nel Regno Unito. Analizziamo i requisiti principali e il loro impatto sul mercato.
When the Bank of England publishes a consultation paper with a foreword signed by Governor Andrew Bailey, the financial services sector takes notice. The November 2025 paper on systemic sterling-denominated stablecoins is no exception: it represents the central bank's most detailed view to date on how digital payment tokens should be regulated in the UK.
Stablecoins as payment infrastructure
The central premise of the Bank's proposal is straightforward: stablecoins that become widely used for everyday payments could pose risks to UK financial stability and, as a result, require regulation proportionate to that risk. This is not a theoretical concern. In 2025, global stablecoin transaction volumes exceeded $33 trillion, and the Bank is positioning itself 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 FCA supervision alone. But once a stablecoin crosses the systemic threshold, it enters a dual regulatory regime overseen by both the Bank of England and the FCA.
The backing requirements
The most significant 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 securities and maintain deposit accounts at the Bank of England itself. This is a notable development: it effectively integrates stablecoin issuers into the same financial infrastructure that underpins the traditional banking system.
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 par in fiat currency? The Bank's answer is to require exactly that — "stability of nominal value, a robust legal claim, and the ability to redeem at par in fiat currency at all times".
Implications for the UK digital payments landscape
The practical implications ext
Source: Bank of England