Mark Fairless, the Group CEO of ClearBank, a banking infrastructure and fintech company, pointed out that the UK needs to regulate and actively promote the development of GBP stablecoins to ensure that the country's financial services sector remains competitive in the global market.
"Stablecoins are essentially a reasonable extension tool to reduce friction in international payments," Fairless said in an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph at the Web Summit 2025 in Lisbon, Portugal.
He noted that since the pound is not a global reserve currency, the market value of GBP stablecoins cannot be compared to tokens denominated in dollars or euros.
However, Fairless emphasized that as the global financial system shifts towards on-chain finance and internet capital markets, the UK must have its own GBP stablecoin to maintain commercial competitiveness. He told Cointelegraph:
"The financial services sector is one of the strongest pillars of the UK economy, so developing stablecoins is the next logical step," he added, noting that the specific impact of stablecoins on banking and traditional business models remains to be seen.
As governments around the world face increasing pressure to bring fiat currencies on-chain to remain competitive with countries that have integrated digital and blockchain technologies into their economic systems, stablecoins have become an important element of geopolitical significance.
Sarah Breeden, Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, stated that the UK will coordinate its stablecoin regulation with the United States and work closely with international partners to synchronize regulatory measures.
Breeden also called for a cautious approach and warned against overly relaxing stablecoin regulations to prevent this asset class from posing systemic risks to the banking system.
The Bank of England released a consultation document on Monday outlining the proposed regulatory framework for UK stablecoins.
The proposal includes potential reserve requirements for stablecoin issuers, asset classification, and risk management regulations, and is open for industry feedback until February 2026, with final regulatory provisions expected to be formally introduced in the second half of the year.
Related: Czech National Bank invests $1 million for the first time to test Bitcoin (BTC) against other crypto reserves
Original article: “Opinion: The UK's Lack of GBP Stablecoins May Leave It Behind the US and EU”
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