Overview

• The central bank is preparing exemptions to its proposed stablecoin holding limits for firms that need large reserves, including crypto exchanges, custodians and selected fintechs, according to Bloomberg reporting.
• Earlier drafts floated caps of roughly £10,000–£20,000 per individual and about £10 million per business to curb deposit flight and systemic risk as stablecoins scale.
• Regulated stablecoins will be permitted as settlement assets inside the joint BoE–FCA Digital Securities Sandbox to test real-world payment and tokenized securities flows.
• Officials frame the carve-outs as preserving market functioning rather than restricting legitimate activity, with details to be consulted on before final rules.
• The shift follows industry pushback and competitive pressure from U.S. legislation, with Governor Andrew Bailey recently highlighting stablecoins’ potential to drive payments innovation.