UK and US seek a common rulebook for cross-border stablecoins
A joint statement backs fully reserved private digital money, risk-based access to banking and clearer insolvency rights without promising identical laws on both sides of the Atlantic.
The United Kingdom and United States have agreed on a set of shared stablecoin principles, putting cross-border payments and settlement at the center of their cooperation on digital assets. The joint statement published on July 14 supports regulated private digital money while leaving each country to develop its own detailed framework.
The language is designed to reduce a practical problem for issuers and banks: a stablecoin that moves across borders can face separate reserve, custody, licensing and insolvency rules in every market it serves. The two governments say comparable risks should produce comparable outcomes where that convergence serves their interests.
Reserves, custody and redemption
The statement says stablecoins held out as money should be backed at least one-to-one by high-quality, liquid assets. It also calls for reserve assets to be segregated from an issuer's own funds and protected for holders, with clear disclosure of the legal rights attached to redemption.
That combination matters because stablecoin regulation is not only about whether a token keeps a dollar peg. It is also about who controls the reserve, how quickly a holder can redeem and what happens to the claim if the issuer fails. The governments endorse a framework in which holders have a clear, protected claim on reserves, including priority ahead of other creditors where national law allows.
Access to the financial system
The statement supports market-driven access for lawful, regulated issuers and users to banking and other financial services, subject to safeguards. That is a meaningful position for companies that can obtain a license yet still struggle to secure bank accounts, settlement partners or access to securities and commodities markets.
It also places stablecoins alongside tokenized deposits and other forms of digital money, rather than treating every product as a single category. The distinction gives banks room to build deposit-based instruments while private issuers compete on payments and settlement.
A direction, not a finished passport
The document is a policy statement, not a cross-border license. The next evidence will be the domestic rules each government adopts and whether firms can use one compliance architecture in both markets. The shared principles point toward safer reserves, clearer claims and fewer barriers to legitimate settlement activity.
