The Bank of England is considering imposing “temporary guardrails” on stablecoin volumes that could be issued under its regulatory framework instead of holding limits, Deputy Governor Sarah Breeden said this week.
“That approach could achieve the same aim at lower cost to the sector and allow a wider range of high-value payment use cases, including for corporates,” Breeden said.
The potential shift follows intense industry pushback against the central bank’s previous proposals, which suggested a £20,000 ownership cap for individuals and a £10 million limit for businesses.
Fintech and traditional finance groups warned those initial boundaries were overly conservative and risked stifling UK innovation while forcing companies to favour more permissive overseas regimes, particularly in the US.
By pivoting toward overall issuance limits rather than rigid individual holding restrictions, the central bank aims to mitigate the risk of rapid deposit outflows from commercial banks during market stress without creating operational hurdles that disrupt day-to-day corporate transactions and digital asset liquidity.