U.S. and U.K. Treasuries Issue Joint Recommendations on Stablecoins and Tokenized Finance

The U.S. Department of the Treasury and HM Treasury released four joint recommendations on digital assets through the Transatlantic Taskforce for the Markets of the Future, addressing stablecoin activity and tokenized finance as part of bilateral cooperation on financial markets. According to Cointelegraph, the recommendations were issued in a joint statement on Tuesday and include proposals aimed at aligning approaches to regulation and supporting cross-border market development. The task force recommended that authorities consider establishing a private-sector-led group focused on testing cross-border use cases for tokenized assets. It also urged financial agencies in the United States and the Bank of England to identify shared approaches to regulating tokenized assets. On stablecoins, the two governments said they intend to pursue regulatory alignment to help establish what they described as a “dynamic stablecoin market across borders.” The statement added that each government plans to tailor requirements to achieve comparable outcomes for comparable risks and activities, with the goal of advancing financial stability while avoiding market distortions or discouraging cross-border competition. The joint statement did not explicitly reference the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, which was signed into law last year and is awaiting regulations before its effective date in January 2027. However, the recommendations said stablecoins “should be fully backed, on at least a one-to-one basis, by high-quality, liquid assets,” a position that aligns with the U.S. law. The U.S.-U.K. recommendations followed a separate report indicating that the United Kingdom could add up to $44 billion to its annual economic output by 2035 if it becomes a leading jurisdiction for tokenization, tokenization scales globally, and domestic adoption rises in line with major peers. The report, produced by a U.K. government-backed industry task force, called for the country to issue tokenized bonds by the first quarter of 2027 and outlined plans to test financial transactions on the blockchain.