Originally published by Bank of England on 2025-11-10
Banco da Inglaterra Apresenta Visão para Supervisão de Stablecoin de Libra Esterlina
O Bank of England propôs um regime regulatório específico para stablecoins sistêmicas denominadas em libras esterlinas, marcando um momento decisivo para os pagamentos digitais no Reino Unido. Analisamos os principais requisitos e o que representam para o mercado.
When the Bank of England publishes a consultation paper prefaced by Governor Andrew Bailey, the financial services sector pays attention. 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 in everyday payments could pose risks to the UK's financial stability and therefore require regulation proportionate to that risk. This is not a theoretical concern. Global stablecoin transaction volume exceeded US$ 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 in payments — remain under the FCA's sole supervision. But once a stablecoin reaches systemic territory, 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 portions of their backing assets in short-term UK government debt securities and maintain deposit accounts at the Bank of England itself. This is a notable development: in practice, it places stablecoin issuers within 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 emergence: when holding a stablecoin, can you actually redeem it at face value in fiat currency? The Bank's answer is to require exactly that — "stability of nominal value, sound 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 regulatory framework succeeds in creating genuinely stable sterling tokens
Source: Bank of England