UK policy sprint finds cross-border payments are stablecoins’ top use case
The FCA’s Stablecoin Sprint found that cross-border payments are the strongest near-term use case for stablecoins. Industry participants said they could be especially useful for emerging markets with limited access to US dollars, but add less value in major payment corridors where existing transfer systems are already fast and cheap. For UK retail payments, adoption is expected to be slower. Participants said consumers have little incentive to switch because current domestic payment methods are already efficient and inexpensive. Merchants may still benefit from lower costs and faster settlement. These findings helped shape the FCA’s June 30 rules requiring UK-issued stablecoins to be fully backed by reserve assets and redeemable at par, and will inform future stablecoin payments policy.
