UK to introduce stablecoin law in ‘months’: Circle’s Dante Disparte

LONDON — The U.K. is likely to see stablecoin laws introduced in a matter of “months, not years,” according to crypto firm Circle’s top policy executive.

Dante Disparte, Circle’s global head of policy, said that he sees the U.K. will soon bring in legislation for stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency that aims to maintain a constant peg to government currencies such as the U.S. dollar or British pound

“I think we’re within months, not years” of formal laws for the stablecoin market being introduced, Disparte told CNBC in an interview last week during a visit to London.

The Treasury and the Bank of England were not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.

Disparte suggested the U.K.’s lengthier approach to introducing laws targeted at crypto may have been a good thing given events that transpired in 2022, such as the collapse of FTX, a crypto exchange once worth worth $32 billion, as well as other industry crises.

“You could also look back, and I think many in the U.K. and in other countries would argue that they’re vindicated in not having jumped in too quickly and fully regulating and bringing the environment onshore because of all the issues we’ve seen in crypto over the last few years,” Disparte said.

However, he added that more recently, there’s been a sense of urgency to introduce formal regulations for stablecoins, as well as trading in digital assets and other crypto-related activities.

By not bringing forth stablecoin-specific rules, the U.K. would risk missing out on the benefits of the technology. He added that the U.K. has some catching up to do with the European Union, which has begun enforcing regulation of stablecoins under its MiCa, or Markets in Crypto Assets, regulation. Singapore has also agreed formal laws for the stablecoin industry.

“In the spirit of protecting the U.K. economy from excess risk and crypto, there’s also a point in time in which you end up protecting the economy from job creation and the industries of the future,” Disparte said. He stressed that “you can’t have the economy of the future unless you have the money of the future.”

Among the benefits cited by Disparte are innovation in the wholesale banking industry, real-time payments, and the digitization of the British pound.

Officials at the Bank of England are currently exploring whether or not to introduce a digital version of the pound, which has previously been dubbed “Britcoin” by the media.

Dante said he had met with officials from the Bank of England recently and was reassured by their approach to so-called central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s predecessor, Rishi Sunak, had previously envisioned Britain becoming a global crypto hub.

When the Conservative Party was in power, U.K. government officials had signaled that new legislation for stablecoins as well as crypto-related services such as staking, exchange and custody would be in place as early as June or July.

In April, the former government announced plans to become a “world leader” in the crypto space, outlining plans to bring stablecoins into the regulatory fold and consult on a regime for regulating trading of cryptoassets, like bitcoin.