U.K. Crypto Regulatory Delays Draw Industry Concerns

The Financial Conduct Authority has opened applications for market pilots while firms cite delays in stablecoin and digital pound rules. Industry figures say overlapping responsibilities among government bodies are slowing a unified framework. , told CoinDesk that political inertia and divided mandates among HM Treasury, the Bank of England and the FCA are stalling progress.

He said the next generation of digital asset infrastructure may be built elsewhere if clarity does not arrive sooner.

Andrew MacKenzie, CEO of sterling stablecoin developer Agant, said in February that regulations were moving in the right direction but too slowly. Matthew Long, Director of Payments and Digital Assets at the FCA, stated that a comprehensive regime is already open for business and that firms are encouraged to apply.

Fry noted that the Treasury sets the law while the FCA handles publicly issued stablecoins and the Bank of England considers a digital pound. He warned that this division creates uncertainty around the singleness of money across tokenized deposits and digital assets.

Fry cited the crypto derivatives exchange Deribit as an example of a firm that chose another jurisdiction. He estimated that clearer staking rules could have brought the platform to the U.K., potentially generating hundreds of millions in tax revenue after its acquisition by Coinbase.

A Financial Times article last week reported that the Bank of England’s restrictions on stablecoins have created a regulatory bottleneck. Fry said that without faster action, transactions may default to U.S. dollar-backed stablecoins, leading to further dollarization of digital asset markets.

U.K. regulations are scheduled to take effect in October 2027.