The US and UK unveiled a joint framework supporting cross-border tokenized assets and regulated stablecoins through closer regulatory cooperation.
The United States and the United Kingdom have unveiled a joint roadmap to strengthen cooperation on digital assets, outlining plans to support cross-border tokenized financial markets and regulated stablecoins while seeking closer alignment between their respective regulatory frameworks.
The initiative was published through the Transatlantic Taskforce for Markets of the Future, established in September 2025 by UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Alongside the recommendations, both governments released a UK-US Joint Statement on Stablecoins, describing a shared vision for promoting digital financial innovation without compromising financial stability or consumer protection.
Unlike a binding treaty, the documents outline policy objectives and regulatory priorities that the two governments intend to pursue through continued cooperation.
Taskforce outlines a shared roadmap for digital finance
According to the recommendations published by HM Treasury and the U.S. Treasury, the taskforce seeks to reduce unnecessary regulatory fragmentation, strengthen links between UK and U.S. capital markets and encourage wider adoption of tokenized financial assets.
Among the recommendations, both governments committed to:
- Supporting cross-border tokenized financial markets.
- Promoting regulatory cooperation on digital assets.
- Encouraging responsible innovation in digital finance.
- Enhancing supervisory coordination.
- Exploring common approaches to tokenized securities and settlement infrastructure.
The recommendations also call for greater use of flexible regulatory mechanisms where appropriate to support tokenization while maintaining market integrity.
The report builds upon discussions held through the UK-US Financial Regulatory Working Group and reflects growing institutional interest in blockchain-based financial infrastructure.
Stablecoins form a central part of the agreement
Alongside the broader recommendations, the governments published a dedicated Joint Statement on Stablecoins, setting out ten shared principles for future regulatory cooperation.
The statement affirms that well-regulated stablecoins can improve payments, settlement and cross-border transactions while supporting competition and financial innovation.
Among the key commitments, both governments said they intend to:
- Support cross-border use of regulated stablecoins.
- Encourage regulatory convergence where appropriate.
- Require stablecoins marketed as money to be backed one-to-one by high-quality liquid assets.
- Promote coordinated supervision of cross-border stablecoin issuers.
- Encourage access to banking services for regulated stablecoin providers.
- Explore reciprocal pathways allowing compliant stablecoins issued in one jurisdiction to operate in the other, subject to domestic laws.
The statement does not itself establish new laws. Instead, it provides a framework intended to guide future regulatory development in both countries.
Tokenization becomes a broader policy priority
The recommendations extend beyond stablecoins.
Both governments identified tokenized securities, digital money, distributed ledger technology and modernized capital markets as strategic priorities for financial services cooperation.
The report highlights opportunities to reduce settlement frictions, improve cross-border capital raising and expand institutional use of blockchain infrastructure.
The initiative also reflects increasing international competition around financial tokenization. Policymakers noted that digital assets and tokenized capital markets are developing rapidly across several major financial centres, increasing the importance of regulatory interoperability.
Why the announcement matters
Although the recommendations are not legally binding, they represent one of the clearest policy signals to date that the world's two largest international financial centres intend to coordinate their approach to digital assets.
For financial institutions, greater regulatory consistency could simplify cross-border issuance of tokenized assets and improve legal certainty for digital settlement infrastructure.
For stablecoin issuers, the emphasis on regulatory cooperation could eventually reduce barriers to operating across both jurisdictions, although implementation will depend on future legislation and supervisory decisions.
The announcement also follows months of bilateral discussions in which regulators debated approaches to tokenized securities, including the role of regulatory sandboxes and other supervisory mechanisms.
Outstanding questions remain
The recommendations deliberately avoid prescribing identical regulatory rules.
Instead, both governments emphasize achieving comparable outcomes while respecting domestic legal frameworks.
Several important issues remain unresolved, including:
- Mutual recognition of regulated tokenized financial products.
- Supervisory coordination for cross-border stablecoin issuers.
- Treatment of tokenized deposits versus payment stablecoins.
- Cross-border insolvency procedures.
- Final implementation timelines.
Future progress will be reported through the UK-US Financial Regulatory Working Group, which will monitor implementation of the taskforce's recommendations.
What happens next
The recommendations now move into an implementation phase.
Market participants will be watching for:
- Draft regulatory proposals from both governments.
- Further guidance from UK and U.S. financial regulators.
- Progress on reciprocal market access for regulated stablecoins.
- Development of cross-border tokenized capital market infrastructure.
- Additional reports from the Transatlantic Taskforce.
While many of the proposals require further regulatory work, the joint publications signal that digital assets and tokenization have become a formal area of long-term financial cooperation between the United States and the United Kingdom.
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