The USA and the UK want to cooperate more closely on regulating stablecoins, tokenized assets, and digital financial services. While the latest talks did not produce new rules, they confirmed the shared direction of both countries. Stablecoins can play an important role, particularly in modernizing payments and making money transfers between countries cheaper.
The United States and the UK have reaffirmed their support for the responsible development of digital assets. Regulators from both countries want to coordinate rules primarily for stablecoins, tokenization of traditional financial assets, and cross-border payments.
These topics were part of the thirteenth meeting of the UK-US Financial Regulatory Working Group, which took place on July 8 in London. According to a joint statement from the US and UK treasury departments, the meeting was also attended by representatives from the Bank of England, the UK Financial Conduct Authority, the US Federal Reserve, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other regulatory institutions.
Table of contents:
- Stablecoins are moving to the center of regulation
- No new joint rules have been created yet
- The USA and the UK want to create a cross-border market
- Tokenization can transform financial markets
- Stablecoins can accelerate payments between countries
- Britain has softened its originally strict approach
- Stablecoins are heading beyond crypto exchanges
Stablecoins are moving to the center of regulation
One of the main points of the talks was stablecoins, digital tokens whose value is typically pegged to a traditional currency, most often the US dollar. Unlike Bitcoin or Ethereum, their price is not supposed to fluctuate significantly, which allows them to be used for payments, money transfers, or settlement of financial transactions.
US officials informed their British counterparts about the implementation of the GENIUS Act, which created the first comprehensive federal framework for regulating payment stablecoins in the United States. The law was signed in July 2025 and establishes rules for authorized issuers, reserve assets, and oversight of the stablecoin market.
In practice, issuers must maintain reserves at a ratio of at least one-to-one. These can consist of US dollars, short-term government bonds, or other highly liquid assets. The goal is to ensure that users can redeem stablecoins for regular money even during periods of heightened uncertainty.
The US Treasury is now preparing specific implementing regulations. In April, for example, it introduced a proposal focused on combating money laundering and sanctions evasion.
In addition to implementing the GENIUS Act, the US also reported on work on a broader digital asset market structure. This is intended to determine, for example, the division of authority among individual regulators and the conditions for cryptocurrency companies to operate in the United States.
No new joint rules have been created yet
The July talks did not produce any new binding measures. However, they confirmed that Washington and London want to proceed in a coordinated manner in regulating digital assets and prevent too significant a division between the US and UK markets.
The joint statement expresses support for the “responsible” use and development of digital assets. At the same time, it emphasizes the need to protect financial stability, consumers, and the integrity of the financial system.
Both countries are not trying to create one common law. Each will maintain its own regulatory regime. The goal is rather to ensure that the rules complement each other and do not prevent companies from offering regulated services on both sides of the Atlantic.
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The USA and the UK want to create a cross-border market
The shared direction also manifested itself on July 14, when the Transatlantic Task Force for Markets of Tomorrow released its first set of recommendations for cooperation on financial innovation and capital markets.
At the same time, both governments presented a separate joint position on stablecoins. According to the document, the planned measures are to lay the foundations for further US-UK leadership in digital assets and capital markets.
The United States and the UK want to support the cross-border use of regulated stablecoins. In the future, for example, a token issued in one country could gain easier access to the market in the other jurisdiction.
The condition is to be adequate backing of tokens, protection of reserves, and clearly defined rights of their holders. Regulatory authorities also want to address situations where a stablecoin issuer becomes insolvent.
Both countries are thus responding to the fact that digital financial services often operate globally, while individual regulatory regimes remain limited by state borders. Significantly different rules could increase costs, complicate international payments, and encourage companies to move to countries with lighter regulation.
Tokenization can transform financial markets
The second significant area of discussion was tokenization. This is a process in which ownership of a traditional asset, such as a bond, fund share, or other investment, is recorded through a digital token.
Tokenized assets can use blockchain or another type of distributed ledger. Their proponents expect faster settlement of trades, lower administrative costs, and simpler transfers between financial institutions.
During the meeting, the UK presented its approach to implementing the Wholesale Financial Markets Digital Strategy, a strategy focused on digitizing wholesale financial markets.
The development of tokenization is also being addressed by the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority. Both institutions presented a joint vision for tokenizing UK wholesale markets in May. The plans include supporting new methods of trade settlement, cross-border transfers, and the use of stablecoins and tokenized bank deposits.
American and British institutions want to jointly examine, for example, when a trade in a tokenized asset is definitively settled or whether stablecoins and tokenized money market funds can serve as collateral in financial transactions.
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Stablecoins can accelerate payments between countries
Meeting participants also addressed the modernization of payment services and the G20 group’s plan to improve cross-border payments. Its goal is to reduce costs, increase transfer speed, and improve their accessibility.
International payments represent one of the most frequently mentioned practical uses of stablecoins. The transfer of a digital token can occur continuously, without needing to wait for banks to open or for the transaction to be processed by multiple intermediaries.
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has identified cross-border transfers as one of the main areas where stablecoins could find use in the near future. The regulator addressed the topic, for example, during its Stablecoin Sprint program, which focused on retail payments, transfers between countries, e-commerce, and business-to-business payments.
The advantages of stablecoins could be most significant for transfers to countries where access to US dollars is limited or where current banking services are slow and expensive. However, on common payment routes with a well-functioning banking system, the difference may not be as pronounced.
For the average user, stablecoins could mean faster money transfers and potentially lower fees. However, the resulting costs will depend on the specific blockchain network, service provider, and method of converting digital tokens back to regular currency.
Britain has softened its originally strict approach
The renewed British emphasis on stablecoins comes at a time when parts of the cryptocurrency industry are warning that the country is falling behind the United States. The adoption of the GENIUS Act has significantly accelerated the development of regulated stablecoins pegged to the US dollar.
The Bank of England originally proposed temporary limits on the amount of systemic stablecoins that individuals and companies could hold. The proposal also included a requirement for issuers to hold at least 40 percent of reserves in the form of non-interest-bearing deposits at the central bank.
However, in May, the central bank began considering alternatives to limits on stablecoin holdings. Critics of the original proposals argued that overly strict rules could disadvantage the British market compared to the United States and the European Union.
The shift was subsequently confirmed in June, when it published a revised framework for systemic stablecoins pegged to the British pound. The regulator abandoned individual limits for holders and instead proposed a temporary overall cap on the volume of a single systemic stablecoin.
The Bank of England also reduced the required share of reserves held as non-interest-bearing deposits at the central bank from 40 to 30 percent. Up to 70 percent of reserves can now consist of interest-bearing short-term British government bonds. The change is intended to enable issuers to operate in a more economically viable manner without, according to the central bank, weakening user protection.
British institutions are thus seeking a balance between supporting innovation and protecting financial stability. Overly strict regulation could deter companies, while overly lenient rules could increase the risk of reserve problems or mass withdrawals.
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Stablecoins are heading beyond crypto exchanges
The latest US-UK meeting did not produce a new joint law or an immediate change in regulations. However, it confirmed that stablecoins and tokenized assets are becoming part of broader debates about the future of the financial system.
Regulators no longer view stablecoins merely as a means used in trading on cryptocurrency exchanges. They are increasingly considering them as a potential tool for international payments, trade settlement, and linking blockchain networks with traditional financial markets.
Critical for further development will be the specific form of American regulations implementing the GENIUS Act, the completion of the British regulatory regime, and the ability of both countries to agree on conditions for cross-border recognition of stablecoins.
If the cooperation succeeds, the United States and Great Britain can create one of the most significant regulated markets for digital money and tokenized financial assets. For now, however, it is primarily a confirmation of a shared direction, not a finished unified system.
