U.S., UK reaffirm digital asset cooperation at July 8 regulatory meeting

The United States and the United Kingdom used their July 8 Financial Regulatory Working Group meeting in London to deepen coordination across digital assets, stablecoins, payments modernization, tokenized wholesale markets, AI, financial stability, capital markets and cross-border finance. A joint statement released Aug. 4 said U.S. officials briefed UK counterparts on implementation progress for the GENIUS Act and on digital asset market structure, while UK officials outlined the country’s Wholesale Financial Markets Digital Strategy, including Christopher Woolard CBE’s appointment as the United Kingdom’s Wholesale Digital Markets Champion. The talks came ahead of July 14 recommendations from the Transatlantic Taskforce for Markets of the Future, which called for lower cross-border friction, stronger supervisory cooperation, broader capital raising and clearer treatment for tokenized financial activity. The two sides backed comparable regulatory standards for stablecoins, including cross-border use, similar treatment for similar risks, and a requirement that stablecoins used as money be backed at least one-to-one by high-quality liquid assets. The statement also pointed to proposed FDIC implementation standards covering reserves, redemption, capital, liquidity, risk management, custody and safekeeping, and to Bank of England draft rules for stablecoins that could reach systemic scale in the UK economy, including a temporary £40 billion issuance cap for each systemic stablecoin, no usage limits for individuals or businesses, and reserve requirements. The Financial Regulatory Working Group is expected to meet again in early 2027.