Bank of England to Publish Draft Stablecoin Rules Next Month

Sarah Breeden, the Bank of England's Deputy Governor for Financial Stability, used the London City Week 2026 conference to set out a roadmap for digitising the UK financial system, placing regulated stablecoins at the centre of future payment innovation. Speaking in remarks reported by The Block and cited by ChainCatcher, Breeden said the Bank plans to release draft rules for systemic stablecoins next month, with final rules targeted by year-end. She said the next generation of retail payment systems should support multiple, interchangeable forms of money, including digital deposits and stablecoins. Breeden also pointed to shared ledger technology as a way to cut payment costs and speed up settlement by reducing reliance on intermediaries. Smart contracts, she added, could further improve retail payments by enabling tailored features, conditional execution and automation. Breeden also said the Bank of England will back the responsible adoption of AI, including agent-based payments and commercial transactions.