US and UK Deepen Stablecoin Alignment as GENIUS Act Rules Slip to 2027

US and UK held their 13th financial regulatory meeting

The United States and the United Kingdom held the 13th meeting of their Financial Regulatory Working Group (FRWG) in London on 8 July 2026. A joint statement published on 4 August confirmed that US officials briefed their UK counterparts on the rollout of the GENIUS Act stablecoin framework. Senior officials from the US Treasury and Britain's HM Treasury attended, joined by the Bank of England, the Financial Conduct Authority, and the Federal Reserve. Participants said the meeting emphasised close and ongoing cooperation between the two countries. The talks also covered digital asset market structure, tokenisation priorities, and the G20 Cross-Border Payments Roadmap. No new binding rules were announced.

US agencies missed the GENIUS Act rulemaking deadline

The GENIUS Act is the first comprehensive US federal law for payment stablecoins, signed by President Trump on 18 July 2025. It requires 1:1 backing with cash and short-term US Treasuries, segregated reserves, timely redemptions, and anti-money-laundering compliance. The one-year statutory window to finalise implementing rules ended on 18 July 2026 without any agency issuing final regulations. The Treasury, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve, and the National Credit Union Administration have issued proposals only. Existing tokens do not become unlawful because of the missed deadline. The law now takes full effect no later than 18 January 2027, or 120 days after regulators issue final rules.

UK set a temporary £40 billion stablecoin issuance cap

The UK used the meeting to share progress on its Wholesale Financial Markets Digital Strategy. It named Christopher Woolard CBE as its new Wholesale Digital Markets Champion. The Bank of England has advanced its own systemic stablecoin framework. Systemic stablecoins are those used widely enough in payments to affect UK financial stability. The central bank replaced earlier per-holder limits with a temporary £40 billion issuance cap for each systemic stablecoin. That guardrail will be reviewed and removed once risks to bank credit ease. UK and US reserve standards are becoming a shared reference point, alongside the European Union's MiCA framework.

USDC held its dollar peg at time of publication

USDC, the largest US-regulated stablecoin, traded at $1.00 at the time of publication, with a market capitalisation near $72.1 billion (CoinPaprika, 5 August 2026). Trading volume reached about $11.3 billion over the prior 24 hours (CoinPaprika, 5 August 2026). Circle issues USDC and is among the regulated issuers set to operate under the GENIUS Act. Transatlantic alignment on reserve and redemption standards reduces fragmentation risk for such issuers between two major financial centres.

Both sides plan to reconvene in early 2027

The FRWG talks build on a separate joint statement on stablecoins issued on 14 July. That statement set out a shared model based on full reserve backing, redemption rights, and AML compliance. US authorities used the London meeting to update UK regulators on where the rulemaking stands. Both governments plan to meet again in early 2027 to review the final GENIUS Act rules. They also expect to weigh progress toward mutual market access for regulated digital-dollar instruments.

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