The Financial Conduct Authority has selected four companies to test stablecoin services within its Regulatory Sandbox. The firms, Monee Financial Technologies, ReStabilise, Revolut and VVTX, were chosen from 20 applicants. The programme is expected to allow companies to trial stablecoin-based products in live market conditions under regulatory supervision, with testing primarily focused on stablecoin issuance. Proposed use cases are said to range from payments and wholesale settlement to crypto trading.
Matthew Long, director of payments and digital assets at the FCA, said the regulator was supporting UK issuers to ensure they can be trusted for payments, settlement and trading. It will benefit consumers and financial transactions and help deliver the FCA’s strategy and the Government’s National Payments Vision. The sandbox is designed to help the regulator assess its draft policy in practice and ensure the final rulebook is clear, proportionate and aligned with responsible innovation. The work will complement the Digital Securities Sandbox and other ongoing innovation initiatives.
Testing begins in the first quarter of 2026, and insights from the programme will feed into the UK’s final stablecoin rules, which are expected later in the year. The FCA noted that consultations covering stablecoin issuance, crypto custody, prudential rules and market conduct are now substantially complete. Firms will need to be authorised under the new regime from October 2027, with the authorisation gateway opening in September 2026.
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