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British officials are reportedly working on a plan to regulate stablecoins and exempt staking services, aiming to strengthen the country’s appeal amid U.S. regulatory shifts.
The British government plans to roll out crypto regulations by December, aiming to retain firms tempted by a pro-crypto stance in Trump’s U.S. The Treasury is particularly expected to introduce two pieces of legislation, focusing on stablecoins and adjusting current regulations to exclude crypto staking from certain financial rules, Bloomberg has learned, citing sources close to the matter.
The expected legislation will allow the Financial Conduct Authority, the country’s financial regulator, to draft rules on stablecoins. The approach also intends to redefine staking outside the remit of traditional investment schemes, sparing it from added scrutiny, sources say.
While an exact timeline remains uncertain, insiders indicate that the FCA will soon release a roadmap detailing its phased approach to regulating stablecoins and other crypto assets. Additional updates are expected on the U.K.’s digital securities sandbox, a joint blockchain testing initiative with the Bank of England.
In October, Dante Disparte, Circle’s head of global policy, suggested that the U.K. would legislate on stablecoins within months, highlighting the sector’s recent $170 billion market cap. That same month, a proposal was introduced in Parliament to recognize digital assets as personal property, with Justice Minister Heidi Alexander emphasizing the need to protect owners from fraud and simplify ownership disputes.
The former Conservative government, led by Rishi Sunak, had outlined plans to make the U.K. a global leader in the crypto space, including regulatory oversight of stablecoins. However, since the switch to the current Labour government, there has been less emphasis on crypto regulation.