Sterling Stablecoins in October 2026: Which GBP Coins Exist and Who Issues Them

A handful of pound stablecoins exist in October 2026, but they're tiny next to dollar coins. The main ones are tGBP from BCP Technologies, GBPA from Agant, GBPe from Monerium and VGBP from VNX. None is yet authorised under the UK's new stablecoin rules, which start on 25 October 2027, and none has been recognised as systemic by HM Treasury.

So this is a market in its waiting room. The rules are mostly written, the issuers are lining up, and the big names (Revolut included) are still testing. Here's who's actually out there, what they're regulated as today, and what changes next year.

Which sterling stablecoins exist right now?

Four pound-pegged tokens have a public footprint: tGBP, GBPA, GBPe and VGBP. Only tGBP is easy for an ordinary UK investor to buy on a major exchange. GBPA is aimed at institutions and businesses, GBPe is minted through Monerium's own accounts, and VGBP comes from a Liechtenstein issuer.

Coin	Issuer	Where it's based	Regulatory status today	Who can get it	Source
tGBP	BCP Technologies	UK	FCA-registered cryptoasset firm since 2021 (anti-money-laundering registration); tested in the FCA sandbox in May 2025	Retail via Coinbase since 22 April 2026, and BCP's own platform	Cointelegraph, The Paypers
GBPA	Agant	UK (Scotland)	FCA-registered cryptoasset firm under the money laundering rules, February 2026	Eligible institutional and business clients only	CoinDesk, The Paypers, Circle
GBPe	Monerium	Iceland	Authorised e-money institution supervised by Iceland's central bank; published a MiCA white paper in January 2026	Monerium account holders after KYC	Monerium
VGBP	VNX Commodities AG	Liechtenstein	Reported as licensed by Liechtenstein's FMA	Via supported crypto platforms	The Defiant
Revolut (no public coin)	Revolut	UK	One of four firms picked for the FCA stablecoin sandbox in February 2026	Not launched	FCA

A note on that registration column, because it's easy to misread. Being FCA-registered for anti-money-laundering purposes isn't the same as being authorised to issue stablecoins. The authorisation regime doesn't exist yet. The FCA's gateway for applications opened on 30 September 2026, and the rules only bite from 25 October 2027.

Photo via Unsplash

Who issues tGBP, GBPA and GBPe?

tGBP comes from BCP Technologies, a UK firm formerly called BitcoinPoint. GBPA comes from Agant, which has its registered office in Stirling. GBPe comes from Monerium, an Icelandic e-money firm that also issues euro tokens. Each says its coin is backed one-for-one by pounds or pound assets.

tGBP launched in June 2025 as an Ethereum token, which Cointelegraph reported was backed by cash in a segregated bank account, with plans to add short-term UK government debt. Coinbase listed it globally from 22 April 2026, so UK users can buy, sell and send it in the Coinbase app.

GBPA is built for payments and settlement between businesses. A June 2026 partnership with Clear Junction limits access to eligible institutional and crypto businesses, and Circle's StableFX service lists GBPA as its pound option. Agant has reported GBPA going live on several blockchains in recent weeks, though I couldn't confirm the full list independently.

GBPe is smaller still. Monerium's January 2026 white paper says GBPe issuance started in 2024 and reached about £0.4 million by the end of that year.

How will sterling stablecoins be regulated in the UK?

Two layers. From 25 October 2027 the FCA regulates every stablecoin issued from the UK under its final rules, published in June 2026 as PS26/10. If HM Treasury recognises a coin as systemic, because it's big enough to matter for payments, the Bank of England joins the FCA and applies stricter rules on top.

Under the FCA's rules, issuers must fully back every coin from the moment it's minted, hold the backing in a statutory trust and back sterling coins with sterling assets. The Bank's version, set out on 22 June 2026, goes further. A systemic issuer can hold up to 70% of backing in short-term UK government debt, with the rest in central bank deposits. There's also a temporary issuance guardrail of £40 billion per systemic coin, which our piece on the £40 billion stablecoin cap explains.

The good news for ordinary users: the Bank dropped the per-person holding limits it consulted on in 2025. Consultation on its draft Code of Practice closed on 22 September 2026, and it aims to finalise the code by the end of the year. For the history of how the framework was built, see our UK stablecoin regulation deep dive.

How are GBP stablecoins different from USDT and USDC?

The big difference for a UK user is currency. USDT and USDC track the US dollar, so their value in pounds moves with the exchange rate, and HMRC sees those moves as small gains or losses. A pound stablecoin tracks sterling, so £1,000 stays roughly £1,000. The other differences are scale and regulator.

Dollar coins are vastly bigger and far easier to trade, with deep liquidity on every major exchange. Pound coins are a rounding error by comparison. And because USDT and USDC aren't issued from the UK, the FCA's issuance rules don't apply to their issuers, while a UK-issued pound coin will sit squarely under the FCA from October 2027. The Bank's joint paper says an overseas issuer of a systemic sterling coin would need a UK legal entity. Our USDT vs USDC guide compares the dollar pair in detail.

	Pound stablecoins	USDT and USDC
Tracks	Sterling	US dollar
Value in pounds	Roughly stable	Moves with GBP/USD
Size and liquidity	Very small	Very large
UK issuance rules from Oct 2027	Apply if issued from the UK	Don't apply to the issuers

My take? The rules are sensible, but a sterling coin only becomes useful when you can spend or swap it as easily as a dollar one, and we're not there yet. Small market caps also mean wider spreads when you trade in and out.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a GBP stablecoin I can buy in the UK? Yes. tGBP, issued by BCP Technologies, has been available to UK users on Coinbase since 22 April 2026. Other pound tokens exist, such as GBPA and GBPe, but GBPA is restricted to institutional clients and GBPe is minted through Monerium accounts.

Are sterling stablecoins regulated by the FCA? Not as stablecoins yet. UK issuers such as BCP Technologies and Agant are registered with the FCA for anti-money-laundering purposes. Full stablecoin authorisation starts on 25 October 2027, under rules the FCA finalised in June 2026.

Is there a limit on how many sterling stablecoins I can hold? No. The Bank of England dropped its proposed per-person holding limits in June 2026. Instead, a temporary £40 billion issuance guardrail would apply to each stablecoin recognised as systemic. No sterling stablecoin had been recognised as systemic by October 2026.

Is a pound stablecoin the same as the digital pound? No. A pound stablecoin is issued by a private company and backed by its reserves. The digital pound is a possible central bank digital currency that the Bank of England has explored but not launched. Our comparison of the two explains the policy debate.

Is swapping crypto for a GBP stablecoin taxable? Yes. HMRC treats swapping one cryptoasset for another as a disposal, and stablecoins count. You'd work out a gain or loss in pounds at the time of the swap. Because a pound coin tracks sterling, later disposals of it usually produce little gain or loss.

What to do with this list

If you're curious about pound stablecoins, check the issuer's own disclosures on backing and redemption before using one, and don't treat FCA registration as a safety stamp; stablecoins aren't bank deposits. Our guide to whether stablecoins are safe covers the risks, and the digital pound vs sterling stablecoins covers the bigger policy choice.