The U.K. House of Lords voted 194-138 to amend the Financial Services and Markets Bill, requiring the Treasury to prepare, publish and consult on a national digital-assets strategy within 12 months of the legislation becoming law. The strategy would cover cryptoassets, qualifying stablecoins, central bank digital currencies, tokenized securities and other digital financial assets, including access to banking, payment and settlement services and risks to competition and innovation when those services are withdrawn. The amendment was introduced by Conservative former Treasury minister Baroness Neville-Rolfe on Sept. 9. It is not yet law: the bill has a Lords third reading scheduled for Sept. 15 before returning to the Commons. The vote adds pressure on the U.K. to coordinate regulation, payments infrastructure, tokenization and competitiveness while the FCA’s cryptoasset regime is already scheduled to begin taking applications in 2026 and take effect in 2027. The development comes as the EU’s MiCA regime is fully applicable and the U.S. has established a federal framework for payment stablecoins through the GENIUS Act.