Senior financial officials from the United States and the United Kingdom convened in London on July 8 for the 13th meeting of the UK-US Financial Regulatory Working Group, intensifying discussions on stablecoins, tokenization, and the broader digital asset landscape. The meeting, summarized in a joint statement released on August 4, comes as Washington begins rolling out the GENIUS Act – a federal framework for payment stablecoins – and signals a deeper transatlantic effort to align oversight without imposing identical rules.
US officials provided their UK counterparts with a detailed briefing on the GENIUS Act stablecoin rollout, explaining how federal agencies are translating the law’s requirements into practice. The session included updates on principles used to assess whether state-level regulatory regimes meet the Act’s standards, and on ongoing work to define the country’s overall crypto market structure. UK representatives responded with their own progress, highlighting the Wholesale Financial Markets Digital Strategy and the recent appointment of Christopher Woolard as Wholesale Digital Markets Champion.
Both governments reaffirmed their commitment to “responsible use and growth of digital assets” alongside consumer protection and financial stability. A separate July 14 statement from the Transatlantic Taskforce for Markets of the Future emphasized convergence where appropriate, stating that stablecoins held out as money should be fully backed by high-quality liquid assets, segregated reserves, and timely redemption. The statement even floated exploring a pathway for stablecoins issued in one jurisdiction to enter the other market.
The dialogue has already influenced UK policy. In June, the Bank of England replaced proposed per-coin holding limits (£20,000 for individuals, £10 million for businesses) with a temporary £40 billion issuance guardrail for each systemic stablecoin. It also reduced the share of reserves that systemic issuers must hold as non-interest-bearing central bank deposits from 40% to 30%, with the remaining 70% allowed in short-term UK government debt. These moves align Britain more closely with the shared US-UK position that reserve rules should protect holders without making stablecoin businesses commercially unviable. The Bank of England plans to finalize its systemic stablecoin code by the end of 2026.
While the working group produced no binding agreements, the exchange signals a coordinated approach that could shape compliance expectations for stablecoin issuers operating internationally. The next phase hinges on US agencies’ implementation of the GENIUS Act and whether the two countries can convert shared principles into formal market-access arrangements. The group plans to meet again in early 2027.
