A deputy governor of the Bank of England (BOE) has played down concerns that the UK would lag behind other jurisdictions in introducing regulatory regimes for stablecoins, saying the rules would come into effect “as quickly as the US”, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
“Our goal is to get our regime up and running, as quickly as the United States,” Sarah Breeden, deputy governor for financial stability, said at a conference Wednesday, according to the report.
Britain’s central bank is set to unveil its proposed stablecoin regulations on November 10, with hopes it will impose holding limits of 20,000 pounds ($26,000) for individuals and 10 million pounds for businesses.
The BOE angered many in the crypto industry when it was announced that the central bank planned to limit the amount of stablecoins that individuals and businesses could own. Breeden described the plans as “less problematic in practice than people might think.”
She pointed to differences between the UK mortgage market and the US, where the GENIUS Act was signed into law by President Trump in July, as the reason why a limit on stablecoin holdings is necessary.
“People in the United States get their mortgages from Fannie and Freddie, and they are funded in the capital markets,” Breeden said, referring to the Federal National Mortgage Association (known as Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. (Freddie Mac). “The British get their mortgages from commercial banks and the need for limits as we move to a world of stablecoins is less relevant to the American regime.”
The BOE did not respond to CoinDesk’s request for additional comment.
