Quick Breakdown:
- The Bank of England plans to cap systemic stablecoin holdings at £10k–£20k for individuals and £10mn for businesses.
- Crypto industry leaders warn limits would hurt UK competitiveness compared to US and EU markets.
- Coinbase, trade bodies, and experts argue enforcement would be costly, impractical, and damaging to innovation.
Cryptocurrency groups are urging the Bank of England (BoE) to drop proposals that would limit how many stablecoins individuals and businesses can hold, warning the plan would leave the UK trailing behind the US and EU in digital asset regulation.
The central bank’s proposal includes ownership caps of £10,000–£20,000 for individuals and £10 million for businesses on systemic stablecoins tokens widely used for payments in Britain or likely to become so. The BoE argues the restrictions are necessary to protect financial stability by preventing large deposit outflows from the banking sector.
Crypto groups hit out at BoE plan to limit stablecoin ownership https://t.co/7mXIbLepF3
— Finance News (@ftfinancenews) September 15, 2025
Industry calls limits unworkable and anti-competitive
The plan has drawn sharp criticism from crypto exchanges and trade bodies. Coinbase vice president of international policy Tom Duff Gordon said the restrictions would be “bad for UK savers, bad for the City and bad for sterling,” adding that no other major jurisdiction has imposed such limits.
Simon Jennings, executive director of the UK Cryptoasset Business Council, said the proposed rules would be difficult to enforce since issuers cannot track individual token holders in real time. Enforcing limits would require costly systems such as digital IDs or constant wallet coordination, he noted.
Industry executives also warned the caps would undermine stablecoins’ potential to make cross-border payments faster and cheaper, limiting innovation in the UK’s fintech sector.
Regulatory tensions and global race
The debate adds to friction between the BoE and the Treasury, which has pledged to support blockchain innovation. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has emphasized stablecoins and tokenized securities as priorities for digital finance.
While the BoE said the caps may be transitional, critics argue the UK risks falling behind the US, where Congress recently approved legislation embedding stablecoins into the financial system.
With the global stablecoin market now valued at $288 billion and forecast to reach $2 trillion in the coming years, crypto advocates argue Britain must adopt a more competitive framework to maintain its place as a global financial hub.
If you would like to read more articles like this, visit DeFi Planet and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and CoinMarketCap Community.
Take control of your crypto portfolio with MARKETS PRO, DeFi Planet’s suite of analytics tools.”
