GBP stablecoins in the UK

Stablecoins in the UK today

The table above lists every live, liquid GBP stablecoin. On 1 November 2026 there are 22,053,659 sterling stablecoins in circulation, worth £22.05m, issued as 4 coins across 12 blockchains. Supply moved +0.03% in the last day.

£23,752 changed hands in the last 24 hours, 49% of it onchain rather than on exchanges, and only 1 of the 4 coins is listed on a centralised exchange.

Are stablecoins legal in the UK?

Yes. You can legally buy, hold, send and sell stablecoins in the UK, including dollar ones like USDC and USDT.

What’s changing is the law for the firms behind them. From 25 October 2027, issuing a stablecoin in the UK, or running an exchange or custody service for UK customers, needs FCA authorisation. The FCA started taking applications on 30 September 2026, and firms already operating have until 28 February 2027 to apply.

No stablecoin issuer has been authorised under the new regime yet. Some, including the issuers of tGBP and GBPA, are registered with the FCA, but registration only covers anti-money-laundering checks. The FCA says it is not an endorsement, and it doesn’t give you access to the Financial Ombudsman or the FSCS.

What are GBP stablecoins for?

A GBP stablecoin is a pound you can send like an email: any time, to anyone with a wallet, in seconds. On a network like Base a transfer costs well under 1p and confirms in about two seconds. On Ethereum it costs a few pence at quiet times, more when the network is busy, and becomes final in about 13 minutes.

Faster Payments is already quick and free for most people in the UK, so the gain at home is modest today. Stablecoins win where bank rails don’t reach: paying someone abroad, settling at night or at weekends, and paying inside apps that run on a blockchain. That last one, money that software can hold and move, is the bigger long-term bet for sterling stablecoins.

The trade-offs are real: no FSCS protection, no interest from the issuer, and mistakes that can’t be reversed. See the risks below.

Who regulates them: FCA vs Bank of England

There are two regulators for GBP stablecoins.

• The FCA regulates every UK stablecoin issuer, and the exchanges and wallets that serve UK customers. Its final rules, published on 30 June 2026, say a coin must be fully backed from the moment it’s created, redeemable at £1 by the end of the next business day (T+1), and backed by assets in the same currency. Issuers can’t pay holders interest.
• The Bank of England steps in if a coin becomes so widely used for payments that its failure could threaten the financial system. The Treasury decides when that point is reached. Those “systemic” coins must keep 30% of their backing as deposits at the Bank of England and up to 70% in short-term government bonds. The Bank dropped its earlier plan to cap how much one person can hold.

Two more changes are on the way. The Treasury plans to regulate paying with a UK-issued stablecoin like any other payment service. And in July 2026 the UK and US agreed that stablecoins should be fully backed, with holders first in line if an issuer fails, and that they will explore letting each country’s coins into the other’s market.

GBP vs dollar stablecoins

Dollar stablecoins have had a ten-year head start.

The gap is enormous. For every $1 of GBP stablecoins there are about $10,110 of dollar ones. DefiLlama lists 340 dollar stablecoins, against 4 sterling ones.

Regulation isn’t the main reason. Euro stablecoins have had full EU rules since mid-2024 and are still only about 28 times the size of sterling ones. The dollar’s lead comes from crypto itself: trading is priced in dollars, and people around the world want dollars. A UK rulebook will make sterling coins safer; demand will decide how big they get.

We track the gap every day on our Analytics page.

Where to buy them

tGBP is the only GBP stablecoin listed on a centralised exchange: Coinbase and Kraken both sell it to UK customers. The others trade onchain, in pools on decentralised exchanges such as Aerodrome on Base and Orca on Solana, which means using your own wallet.

Prices barely differ between venues. Fees, deposit methods and withdrawal options differ a lot, so compare what £1,000 actually costs before you choose. We don’t take affiliate fees, so our rankings are on cost and regulation only.

Where to buy GBP stablecoins →

How are stablecoins taxed in the UK?

Today, selling, swapping or spending a stablecoin is a disposal for capital gains tax, sterling ones included, so keep records of every transaction.

That’s changing. After a consultation in 2026, the government has said individuals won’t pay capital gains tax on “eligible” fiat-backed stablecoins (dollar ones included) from April 2027. That needs the Finance Bill 2026–27 to pass, so it isn’t law yet. Rewards from lending stablecoins will be taxed as savings income.

The risks

A stablecoin is only as safe as what backs it and who holds it for you.

• It loses its peg. If people doubt the reserves, the price can drop below £1. Check a coin’s peg history on its page before you buy.
• The issuer fails. Until the FCA regime applies in October 2027, what you get back depends on how each issuer holds its reserves.
• The platform fails. Coins held on an exchange or app aren’t covered by the FSCS. If the platform collapses, getting your coins back could be very difficult.
• You make a mistake. Blockchain payments can’t be reversed. Send to the wrong address and the money is usually gone, so it’s worth sending a small test amount first.

For most people, holding a sterling stablecoin will mean holding it through a familiar app. Revolut is one of four firms the FCA chose in February 2026 to test stablecoins in its sandbox, and is exploring a GBP stablecoin. It has no launch date yet.

Full guide: are stablecoins safe? →

Digital pound, CBDC or stablecoin?

These are three different kinds of digital money.

• The digital pound is the UK’s proposed CBDC (central bank digital currency): money issued by the Bank of England itself for everyday use. The Bank has studied it since 2020 and consulted on it in 2023. It said in March 2026 that no decision has been made, and that it will announce next steps later this year. It would need new legislation before it could launch.
• Tokenised deposits are ordinary bank deposits recorded on a blockchain, with the usual protections. Seven UK banks, Monzo among them, are piloting them through UK Finance, and the first live customer payments went through in September 2026.
• GBP stablecoins are issued by private firms, backed by reserves the firm holds, and exist today.

The Bank of England is also building a way to settle wholesale payments in central bank money across blockchains, due in 2028. That’s for banks and markets, not the public.

FAQs