The Bank of England (BoE) is reportedly preparing to introduce exemptions to its proposed limits on stablecoin holdings, according to a Tuesday report by Bloomberg.
The waivers are expected to be granted to firms that necessarily hold large amounts of the tokens, such as crypto exchanges, a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
Last month, reports indicated that BoE officials were planning to impose strict caps on stablecoin holdings: (around ) for individuals, and million (around million) for firms. These limits had drawn criticism from the digital asset industry, which deemed them “unworkable.”
The U.K.’s central bank is also expected to allow firms to use stablecoins for settlement purposes within its Digital Securities Sandbox, the sources added.
Stablecoins are digital tokens pegged to the value of traditional financial assets, such as fiat currencies.
The BoE’s previously reported restrictive approach had appeared to put the U.K. out of step with other major financial jurisdictions, such as the U.S. and Hong Kong, which have recently introduced formal regulatory regimes for stablecoins. BoE Governor Andrew Bailey had previously expressed skepticism about stablecoins, citing possible threats to financial stability.
