(14 May 2026 – United Kingdom) The Bank of England is reportedly reviewing aspects of its proposed stablecoin framework after concerns from industry participants that the measures could hinder innovation and create operational complexity, according to the Financial Times.
Speaking to the publication, deputy governor for financial stability Sarah Breeden said the central bank is “looking very hard at whether there are different ways we can manage what we think is an important risk as stablecoins come into play”.
The original proposals, released late last year, included temporary holding limits that would cap individual ownership at £20,000 per stablecoin and restrict businesses to holdings of up to £10 million.
Breeden acknowledged industry concerns around the practicality of those measures, telling the Financial Times: “What we have heard from industry is that the way we have proposed to implement limits is cumbersome operationally for a temporary measure. So we are genuinely open to thinking whether there are other ways of achieving our objective.”
The central bank is also reconsidering proposals requiring systemic stablecoin issuers to place at least 40% of reserve assets on deposit with the Bank of England without earning interest, while the remaining reserves would be invested in sovereign bonds and other liquid assets.
“Perhaps not surprisingly, the industry would prefer to hold more interest-earning assets, as that goes to their bottom line,” said Breeden, adding that “we will look hard to see if we have been overly conservative in our thinking there”.
Industry bodies including The Payments Association and Innovate Finance had previously criticised the proposed framework, arguing it risked constraining innovation and disadvantaging challenger banks, payments firms and stablecoin start-ups operating in the UK market.