Key Takeaways:
The US and UK took their biggest step yet toward a shared regulatory framework for digital assets, issuing four joint recommendations on stablecoins and tokenized finance.
The US Department of the Treasury and HM Treasury on Tuesday issued four recommendations through the Transatlantic Taskforce for the Markets of the Future, calling for stablecoins to be fully backed on a one-to-one basis by high-quality liquid assets and urging regulators to develop shared approaches for tokenized assets.
"Each government intends to tailor its requirements to seek comparable outcomes for comparable risks and activities, seeking to advance financial stability while avoiding market distortions or disincentivizing cross-border competition," the two treasury entities said in a joint statement.
The recommendations align with the US GENIUS Act, signed into law in 2025 and awaiting final regulations before its effective date in January 2027. The task force also proposed a private-sector-led group to test cross-border use cases for tokenized assets, while US financial agencies and the Bank of England would identify shared regulatory approaches. The UK's regime for regulated stablecoins is targeting a 2027 go-live, with the BoE and Financial Conduct Authority having published their joint approach to regulation in June 2026.
The alignment comes as a UK government-backed industry task force estimated tokenization could add as much as $44 billion to the country's annual economic output by 2035, provided the UK becomes a leading jurisdiction for the technology. The report called for the issuance of tokenized bonds by the first quarter of 2027 and plans to test financial transactions on blockchain networks.
BoE finalizes systemic stablecoin rules with key concessions
The Bank of England in June published its final policy statement and draft Code of Practice for sterling-denominated systemic stablecoins, marking what it called "a key milestone" in establishing the UK's regime. The rules allow issuers to hold 70% of backing assets in short-term UK government debt and 30% in unremunerated central bank deposits — a revision from the initially proposed 60/40 split after industry feedback. The BoE also replaced proposed per-coin holding limits with a temporary issuance guardrail set at a maximum of 40 billion pounds per systemic stablecoin product.
The BoE and FCA simultaneously published their approach to joint regulation of systemic stablecoin issuers, outlining how firms would transition from solo FCA oversight to joint BoE-FCA supervision. The transition period is expected to take between 12 and 36 months, with the consultation open for comment until Sept. 30, 2026.
What the US-UK alignment means for the market
The joint statement stops short of creating a single transatlantic rulebook but establishes a framework for regulatory deference, where each jurisdiction would recognize comparable outcomes in the other. This approach could reduce compliance costs for stablecoin issuers operating in both markets and accelerate the integration of dollar- and sterling-denominated stablecoins into mainstream payment systems.
The US Treasury's recommendations did not explicitly reference the GENIUS Act but adopted its core requirement that stablecoins be fully backed by high-quality liquid assets such as cash and short-term government debt. The law, signed by President Donald Trump in 2025, gives US regulators until January 2027 to finalize implementing rules.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
