UK Financial Regulator Selects Revolut and Three Others for Stablecoin Testing Program
Britain's Financial Conduct Authority has picked four firms—Monee, ReStabilise, Revolut, and VVTX—to participate in stablecoin trials within its regulatory sandbox, with testing scheduled to commence in early 2026.
Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has picked four firms to participate in a specialized stablecoin testing group as part of its established Regulatory Sandbox program.
According to a press release issued on Wednesday, the FCA revealed its selection of Monee Financial Technologies, ReStabilise, Revolut and VVTX from among 20 total applicants to evaluate their stablecoin offerings' compliance with the UK's upcoming regulatory framework in a "safe environment."
According to the UK watchdog, the trials will concentrate mainly on the issuance of stablecoins, with the quartet of firms testing various applications such as payments, wholesale settlement and cryptocurrency trading, with results expected to shape Britain's ultimate stablecoin regulatory framework.
Matthew Long, director of payments and digital assets at the FCA, stated that the regulator planned to assist UK stablecoin issuers in ensuring their products could "be trusted for payments, settlement and trading."
Long explained that the FCA's participation would "benefit consumers and financial transactions," while also contributing to "deliver the FCA's strategy and the Government's National Payments Vision."
Sandbox permits testing in controlled environment
The FCA established its sandbox initiative in 2016 as part of Project Innovate, with the stablecoin-focused cohort opening its application process in November 2025, targeting potential UK stablecoin issuers seeking to test pound-backed or other fiat-pegged tokens and associated payment applications during the development phase of the nation's comprehensive stablecoin regulatory framework.
The quartet of firms selected for participation in the cohort will launch their testing phase during the first quarter of 2026, with their results expected to "help shape the UK's final stablecoin rules later in 2026," according to the official announcement.
Each of the companies will require authorization under the finalized regulatory regime when it becomes operational in October 2027.
The financial watchdog had earlier identified sterling-backed stablecoin payments as a key priority for mainstream adoption and has previously onboarded initiatives such as regulatory technology company Eunice to examine disclosure requirements and market data infrastructure for cryptocurrency markets.
FCA's stablecoin plans face industry criticism
Notwithstanding the FCA's initiatives, prominent industry figures including Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong have cautioned that Britain's developing stablecoin regulatory framework threatens to diminish the nation's competitive position in the digital economy.
In a Wednesday post on X, Armstrong referenced proposals from the Bank of England to impose limits on stablecoin holdings for individuals and businesses, contending that such restrictions would function as an "innovation blocker" during a period when competing jurisdictions are rapidly working to attract stablecoin and blockchain enterprises.
Armstrong called on UK residents to back a pro-innovation approach for blockchain and stablecoins by adding their signatures to a petition organized by advocacy organization Stand With Crypto UK that has already collected over 80,000 signatures, underscoring the friction between the UK's measured, payments-focused methodology and industry demands for more permissive restrictions on stablecoin usage.