Originally published by Bank of England on 2025-11-10
El Banco de Inglaterra detalla su enfoque para la supervisión de las stablecoins en libras esterlinas
El Bank of England ha propuesto un régimen regulatorio específico para las stablecoins sistémicas denominadas en libras esterlinas, un paso decisivo para los pagos digitales en el Reino Unido. Analizamos los requisitos clave y su impacto en el mercado.
When the Bank of England publishes a consultation paper with a foreword from Governor Andrew Bailey, the financial services sector takes notice. Its November 2025 paper on systemic sterling-denominated stablecoins is no exception, offering 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 widespread for everyday payments could pose risks to UK 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 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 the sole supervision of the FCA. But once a stablecoin enters systemic territory, it becomes subject to a dual regulatory regime overseen by both the Bank of England and the FCA.
The backing requirements
The most far-reaching 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 at the Bank of England itself. This is a notable development: in practice, it integrates stablecoin issuers into the same financial infrastructure that underpins traditional banking.
For users, this matters because it addresses the fundamental question that has dogged the stablecoin market from the start: when you hold a stablecoin, can you actually redeem it for its face value in fiat currency? The Bank's answer is to require exactly that—"par value stability, a robust legal claim, and the ability to always redeem at par value in fiat currency."
Implications for the UK digital payments landscape
The practical implications extend well beyond stablecoin issuers themselves. If the framework succeeds in cr
Source: Bank of England