UK Stablecoin Regulation for Businesses

A Latin American company invoicing a client in London runs into a question with no obvious answer. Can it hold that revenue in sterling under a regulated framework, the way it already can with euros under MiCA, or does the UK play by different rules entirely? The short answer is different rules. The UK has not been part of the European Union since 2020 and does not apply MiCA. Since 2023 it has been building its own cryptoasset and stablecoin regime, with different supervisors, categories and dates than the EU.

In Soulbit Academy we cover the British framework separately from the European one, because treating them as interchangeable leads to real compliance mistakes. This guide distinguishes what is already in force in the UK as of September 2026, what remains under consultation, and what it means for a Latin American treasury that collects or wants to hold a sterling balance.

What the UK stablecoin framework is: FSMA 2023, the FCA and the Bank of England

The UK's cryptoasset and stablecoin regime rests on the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (FSMA 2023), the law that gave HM Treasury the power to bring cryptoasset activities within the UK's regulated perimeter. The full text is available on legislation.gov.uk.

Unlike MiCA, a European regulation with direct effect, the UK regulates through secondary legislation. HM Treasury published a draft Statutory Instrument on 29 April 2025, the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities and Miscellaneous Provisions) (Cryptoassets) Order 2025, creating two new kinds of specified investment: the "qualifying cryptoasset" and the "qualifying stablecoin". The official explanatory memorandum is on legislation.gov.uk.

That draft splits supervision between two bodies with different mandates. The FCA regulates conduct: stablecoin issuance, cryptoasset custody and trading venue operation. The Bank of England only steps in once a payment stablecoin reaches systemic scale, under its own separate regime.

The 2025-2027 timeline: what is in force today and what is still under consultation

As of September 2026, the UK has finalised its stablecoin issuance and cryptoasset custody rules, but the full authorisation regime does not yet accept general applications. The FCA consulted extensively since 2023, publishing four discussion papers (DP23/4, DP24/4, DP25/1 and CP25/25) and ten consultation papers, including CP25/14 on stablecoin issuance and custody.

On 30 June 2026 the FCA published its final policy statements: PS26/9 (admissions, disclosures and the market abuse regime for cryptoassets), PS26/10 (stablecoin issuance, responding to CP25/14), PS26/11 (regulated cryptoasset activities), PS26/12 (a prudential regime for cryptoasset firms) and PS26/13 (application of the FCA Handbook to these activities). The official summary is on the FCA's cryptoasset regime page.

Can a business already operate under FCA stablecoin authorisation?

Not fully yet. The application window opened on 30 September 2026 and closes on 28 February 2027. Firms already providing services can keep operating under transitional provisions while their application is assessed. The full scope of the regime, requiring prior authorisation for every regulated activity, takes effect on 25 October 2027.

Milestone	Date	Status as of September 2026
FSMA 2023 (framework act)	29 June 2023	In force
HM Treasury draft SI (Cryptoassets Order 2025)	29 April 2025	Published, not yet in force
FCA final policy statements (PS26/9 to PS26/13)	30 June 2026	Published
FCA authorisation application window	30 September 2026 to 28 February 2027	Open
Bank of England code of practice for systemic stablecoins	Consultation closed 22 September 2026	Under review, finalisation expected by year-end 2026
Full scope of the regime (all regulated activities)	25 October 2027	Pending

What the FCA regulates: stablecoin issuance and cryptoasset custody

The FCA supervises the conduct of stablecoin issuers, cryptoasset custodians and trading venues in the UK, within the new perimeter created by HM Treasury's draft SI. PS26/10, the final stablecoin issuance policy, covers three areas: issuance and redemption, backing assets and their safeguarding, and public disclosure requirements.

PS26/9 adds the admissions, disclosures and market abuse regime, modelled in part on the one already governing traditional securities in the UK. PS26/11 defines which activities become regulated, from operating a cryptoasset exchange to providing custody services. PS26/12 sets the prudential regime, with capital requirements for firms. PS26/13 explains which parts of the FCA Handbook, the rulebook already governing banks and asset managers, now extend to these activities.

The combined effect is a framework that is complete on paper but not yet operational for new entrants. A firm wanting to issue a sterling stablecoin or custody cryptoassets for UK clients needs FCA authorisation, and that authorisation follows the timeline in the table above.

What the Bank of England regulates: the regime for systemic sterling stablecoins

The Bank of England only supervises sterling payment stablecoins that reach systemic scale, meaning their volume is large enough to affect UK financial stability or the payments system. The joint approach with the FCA is described in its paper on the joint regulation of systemic stablecoin issuers.

The Bank of England opened a consultation on this regime on 10 November 2025, which closed on 10 February 2026. On 22 June 2026 it published its response and draft rules: instead of holding limits for households and businesses, it adopted a temporary issuance guardrail for each systemic stablecoin, initially set at GBP 40 billion. The Bank of England described this shift as a cheaper way to reach the same policy outcome, without restricting use by households and businesses. The official announcement is on the Bank of England's website.

What counts as a systemic stablecoin under the UK regime?

It is a sterling payment stablecoin that the Bank of England recognises as capable of moving enough volume to affect the financial system. Its issuer must back it with up to 70% interest-bearing assets and the remainder as deposits at the Bank of England, within the current issuance guardrail. The code of practice detailing these rules remained under consultation until 22 September 2026, with finalisation expected by year-end and regulated systemic stablecoins expected to operate from 2027.

MiCA vs the UK: two regimes, two currencies

The UK did not adopt MiCA after Brexit and built its own regime instead, with a different timeline, supervisors and categories than the EU. The difference is not only cosmetic. MiCA is a regulation with direct effect across 27 countries; the UK regime advances through secondary legislation that a single Parliament can amend. MiCA uses the EMT and ART categories; the UK uses "qualifying stablecoin" and adds a further tier, the systemic stablecoin, with no exact EU equivalent.

The calendars do not line up either. As we cover in MiCA in 2026: what a LATAM company needs to know about Europe, the EU's stablecoin regime has been fully in force since July 2026, with more than 300 authorised cryptoasset service providers. The UK regime, by contrast, has finalised its issuance rules but the full scope of authorisation only takes effect in October 2027.

For a treasury team used to thinking of "Europe" as one regulatory block, this is the point worth internalising. A euro balance and a sterling balance are not governed by the same rulebook, the same regulator or the same clock, even though both currencies sit inside neighbouring, closely linked economies. Applying MiCA logic to a UK counterparty, or assuming the UK follows the EU's timetable because it once did as a member state, produces the wrong answer on when a sterling stablecoin becomes a real, authorised option.

Dimension	European Union (MiCA)	United Kingdom
Legal basis	Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, with direct effect across 27 countries	FSMA 2023 plus an HM Treasury Statutory Instrument
Primary supervisor	National authorities, coordinated by ESMA and the EBA	FCA for general conduct; Bank of England for systemic stablecoins
Stablecoin categories	EMT (single currency) and ART (asset basket)	"Qualifying stablecoin" plus a further systemic stablecoin tier
Currency relevant to a LATAM treasury	Euro, via an EMT authorised under MiCA	Pound sterling, via an authorised stablecoin once one exists
Status as of September 2026	Fully in force since July 2026	Issuance rules finalised; full scope from October 2027

What this framework means for a LATAM company collecting sterling

For a Latin American company invoicing a UK client, the practical effect of this timeline is that the regulated sterling framework is still being completed, not that it is empty. Today there is no UK stablecoin authorised under the FCA's regime or under the Bank of England's systemic stablecoin regime: both timelines remain open.

That does not stop a business from operating. What changes is the nature of the available instrument: while the stablecoin-specific regime is finalised, the regulated route for holding value in sterling runs through fiat balances on authorised payment rails, not through a sterling token issued under the new UK perimeter. Monitoring the origin and destination of funds, a requirement common to any serious rail, follows standards such as the FATF Travel Rule, which we cover in the FATF Travel Rule for cryptoasset payments.

There is also a practical reason to track the FCA and Bank of England calendars separately rather than waiting for a single "go live" date. A company invoicing UK clients cares about when it can hold sterling on a compliant rail, which is a question about payment and custody providers today, not about stablecoin issuers who are still going through authorisation. A company planning to accept a sterling-denominated stablecoin directly, on the other hand, needs to watch the Bank of England's Code of Practice and the 2027 operating date specifically, since that is the instrument the systemic regime actually governs.

Should a LATAM company wait until the regime is complete to operate in sterling?

No. The timeline governs who can issue a sterling stablecoin and under what conditions, not whether a company can hold a fiat sterling balance. The two are different. A treasury can start operating in sterling today on regulated payment rails, and revisit later whether an authorised sterling stablecoin, once one exists, improves its operations.

Comparing corridors helps size the decision. The cost and friction of moving value through traditional banking rails versus stablecoin rails is covered in SWIFT vs stablecoin for international payments, and the other major framework a LATAM treasury should have mapped, the US one, is covered in the GENIUS Act and LATAM companies. Three economies, three timelines, none interchangeable with the others.

What Soulbit's V1 actually delivers in sterling today

Soulbit is not an authorised stablecoin issuer in the UK, and it does not need that authorisation for what its V1 delivers today. It is not a stablecoin issuer and does not hold UK regime authorisation.

Soulbit's V1 is a B2B payments and treasury rail: a business account with USDC and USDT balances, and fiat limited to USD, EUR and GBP. That sterling balance is real and available today, with business verification (KYB), batch payroll, payment links, a collection QR code, crypto-fiat conversion by quote on request, and AML/KYT monitoring with institutional custody. For a LATAM company invoicing a UK client, that combination covers what the regulated framework allows today: holding value in sterling on a rail with verifiable compliance, without depending on a sterling stablecoin that does not yet exist with authorisation.

What the V1 does not do also matters. It does not issue a sterling stablecoin, or any other currency-denominated token, it does not serve UK retail clients under the FCA regime, it offers no card and no yield, and it does not replace legal advice on how each operation is taxed in your country. Soulbit's own local banking rail today only covers Colombia; every other flow, including those arriving from the UK, relies on the multi-currency fiat balance and the crypto-fiat rails described above. For the full multi-currency treasury picture, see a multi-currency account for companies in USD, EUR and GBP.