Bank of England (BoE) plans to maintain caps on stablecoin holdings until it is assured that they do not threaten financial stability

Bank of England (BoE) Deputy Governor Sarah Breeden, in a speech delivered today, October 15, 2025, talked more about the stablecoin cap and when it is likely to disappear as the UK intensifies efforts to regulate stablecoins under a framework that balances innovation with financial safeguards. 

The UK’s crypto industry has responded to news of the cap with opposition, although it expressed muted enthusiasm to news that there could be certain exemptions for the central bank’s planned stablecoin holding cap. 

The BoE is primarily concerned about financial stability 

The Bank of England has said it will only get rid of proposed caps on the quantity of stablecoins individuals and businesses can hold when there is no doubt they are not a threat to financial stability.

The central bank has taken a tougher stance than many authorities on embracing stablecoins, the hottest application to come out of the emerging crypto industry. 

The crypto industry has vocally opposed the planned caps. However, according to BoE Deputy Governor Sarah Breeden, they are needed because of the potential impact of significant and rapid outflows of bank deposits into stablecoins.

Such outflows, she said in her speech, could trigger a “precipitous drop in credit for businesses and households if the banking system were unable to increase, at scale and at pace, its use of wholesale financing from non-banks”.

The BoE has previously indicated it could apply limits of 10,000 pounds to 20,000 pounds ($26,778) for individuals, and higher levels for businesses, separating it from other major countries without limits.

Next month, it will publish a consultation setting out updated proposals for a future regulatory regime. The consultation is supposed to gauge sentiment on the proposed levels for stablecoin limits.

According to Breeden, the BoE can be expected to remove the limits “once we see that the transition no longer threatens the provision of finance to the real economy.”

She also said the largest businesses would most likely be exempted from the cap so that they could hold more if required.

Under Britain’s proposed regulatory framework, the BoE will regulate systemic sterling stablecoins or any it decides is capable of becoming widely used for payments, while the Financial Conduct Authority, which has proposed a less stringent way of doing things, would be in charge of the remainder.

The crypto industry is unimpressed by the exemptions 

The UK’s crypto industry has expressed muted enthusiasm to news that the Bank of England could allow certain exemptions for its planned stablecoin holding cap, and some stakeholders have even demanded a recalibration. 

“While there are indications in the press that this policy may be under review, we believe it remains critically important that these limits are recalibrated,” said Simon Jennings, the Executive Director of the UK Cryptoasset Business Council.

Jennings also believes that the cap on retail users, which is not in line for an exemption, could be “cumbersome, costly and potentially unworkable” in practice.

Similar sentiments were reflected in the statement of Varun Paul, who previously served as the Bank of England’s head of fintech. 

“Because people can have many different wallets, it becomes very difficult to monitor their total holdings,” he said. “Putting that responsibility onto stablecoin issuers is implausible, because stablecoins are bearer assets and the issuer does not (and should not) know the identities of all holders at any given time.”

If the potential waiver stands, it would allow crypto-exchanges and other large entities to go past the £10 million ($13.3 million) limit for businesses.

The holding limit drew criticism from the UK crypto industry in September, when it was revealed that the central bank had plans to proceed with a previously discussed cap, which would also prohibit individuals from holding more than £10,000 or £20,000 ($13,300 or $26,600) in stablecoins.

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