Nigel Farage: Reform’s Britain will lead the digital money revolution
Stablecoins are the future but Labour and the Bank of England is strangling it in it’s cradle, says Nigel Farage
Crypto is no longer a fringe experiment. It is reshaping payments, finance and global commerce. At the heart of this revolution are stablecoins, digital tokens pegged one-to-one to real-world currencies like the pound or the dollar. They make payments instant, cheap, and predictable. Countries that embrace them are surging ahead. If Britain hesitates, we will fall behind.
On Monday, the Bank of England revised its planned rules for UK stablecoins after Reform UK forced the issue. I personally led the charge, exposing the absurdity of a rule that would have required all large stablecoins to be fully backed by deposits at the Bank of England. That approach would have made launching a stablecoin in Britain nearly impossible and crushed investment before it even began.
Under the new framework, stablecoin issuers can now hold up to 60 per cent of their reserves in short-term UK government bonds. But there’s a fatal flaw. The Bank has imposed a £20,000 cap on individual holdings. This is nothing less than a poison pill for the UK financial sector.
Britain on the sidelines
The bureaucrats at the Bank of England claim this is about “protecting” people. In reality, it keeps the pound tied to outdated hierarchies while the rest of the world races ahead. Britain risks strangling fintech growth before it even starts, handing the digital revolution to New York and Dubai while we sit on the sidelines.
Let me be clear: under Reform UK, there will be no caps on individual holdings of stablecoins. And we will go further. We will slash capital gains tax on cryptoassets such as Bitcoin from 24 per cent to 10 per cent. This will make Britain attractive fintech innovators and blockchain entrepreneurs. Ordinary people will find it easier to invest, spreading digital finance across the country, creating jobs, and expanding the taxable base.
We will also create a Bitcoin digital reserve at the Bank of England. Bitcoin is scarce, secure and impossible to inflate away. Unlike paper money, Bitcoin cannot be printed into worthlessness. Every transaction is permanent, every token verifiable. It is liquid, divisible, global and unstoppable. It is the ultimate store of value for the digital age.
Meanwhile, Labour remains completely out of touch. While Reform UK fights to make Britain a hub for innovation and investment, Labour clings to outdated ideas, endless bureaucracy, and technocratic caution. They talk about the future but act as if the digital economy doesn’t exist. The opportunity to lead in global finance is here, and Labour is missing in action.
Reform UK’s Cryptoassets and Digital Finance Bill rejects the idea that stablecoins threaten financial stability. They are a bridge between old money and new, between entrepreneurs and customers, between opportunity and growth. Other countries understand this. Singapore, Dubai and the United States are racing ahead with frameworks that welcome innovation. Britain must do the same.
This is not just a question of tech. It is about who runs Britain’s money. Ministers have handed control to unelected Bank of England bureaucrats who decide interest rates and shape the financial system without ever being accountable. Our pound, our financial power, and our position in the global economy are at stake. The digital asset industry already employs tens of thousands in Britain and is worth trillions globally. Every pound issued as a GBP stablecoin could buy government bonds, lower borrowing costs, and strengthen the financial system.
London can remain the world’s capital of finance, but only if we act boldly on these new technologies. Britain can either take the lead in the digital revolution or watch our pound fade into the back of the pack.
The future won’t wait – and neither must we.
Nigel Farage is the leader of Reform UK