UK FCA Selects Four Firms for Stablecoin Sandbox Testing

The UK Financial Conduct Authority has selected four firms to participate in its new stablecoin regulatory sandbox. Monee Financial Technologies, ReStabilise, Revolut, and VVTX emerged from a pool of 20 applicants for the pioneering program.

The UK FCA has selected four firms—Monee, ReStabilise, Revolut, and VVTX—to test stablecoin issuance in its Regulatory Sandbox starting Q1 2026. The trials will help shape final UK stablecoin rules ahead of the broader crypto regime launching in October 2027.…

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) February 25, 2026

The sandbox will allow these companies to trial stablecoin products under real-world conditions with regulatory safeguards. Testing is scheduled to begin in Q1 2026, with findings expected to shape final UK stablecoin regulations later that year.

The FCA described the initiative as part of its commitment to supporting growth and innovation in UK financial services. Each selected firm will receive direct feedback from FCA specialists throughout the testing period.

Matthew Long, director of payments and digital assets at the FCA, emphasized the program’s strategic importance. He stated the initiative would support UK stablecoin issuers to ensure they can be trusted for payments, settlement, and trading.

It will benefit consumers and financial transactions and help to deliver the FCA’s strategy and the Government’s National Payments Vision

Long added

UK Sandbox Reveals Diverse Use Cases

The four selected firms represent a broad range of stablecoin applications. Their proposals span payments processing, wholesale settlement operations, and crypto trading functionalities.

Revolut, the most prominent name among the cohort, joins three lesser-known fintech players in the regulatory experiment. The inclusion of varied business models will provide the FCA with comprehensive data on stablecoin implementations.

The Regulatory Sandbox programme enables the FCA to assess proposed policies in live environments. This approach aims to ensure future rules are clear, effective, and supportive of responsible innovation.

The primary focus of testing will center on stablecoin issuance mechanisms. Regulators will examine how firms create, back, and manage stablecoin tokens in practical settings.

This initiative complements existing innovation programs such as the Digital Securities Sandbox. Together, these frameworks form part of the FCA’s broader strategy to enable innovation across UK financial services.

Building on Existing Regulatory Foundations

The stablecoin sandbox follows significant regulatory developments in the UK’s digital assets sector. In December 2023, the Treasury introduced Digital Securities Sandbox regulations to create controlled testing environments.

Those DSS regulations empowered authorities to modify legislative requirements for testing purposes. The Bank of England and FCA gained powers to manage and oversee sandbox operations under this framework.

Findings from sandbox programs can be permanently integrated into law through Treasury and Parliament collaboration. This creates a pathway from experimental testing to established regulatory policy.

The DSS explicitly targets distributed ledger technology testing, including scenarios where DLT replaces traditional financial infrastructure. Central securities depositories and trading venues represent key areas of exploration.

More recently, in April 2025, the FCA approved BlackRock and Galaxy Digital for crypto services in the UK. BlackRock gained authorization to facilitate transactions and sales of exchange-traded products backed by crypto assets.

JUST IN: 🇬🇧 BlackRock officially registers as a crypto asset firm in the UK.

— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) April 1, 2025

This approval positioned BlackRock to launch its European spot Bitcoin ETP in the UK market. However, FCA restrictions limit such products to institutional and professional investors only.

The regulator maintains strict consumer protection standards amid ongoing crypto market volatility. Retail investors remain excluded from certain crypto investment products under current rules.

The Bank of England has previously outlined a financial innovation roadmap emphasizing stablecoin exploration. The new sandbox program directly advances these stated objectives.

Despite implementing comprehensive advertising rules and the Travel Rule in 2023, UK authorities continue pursuing crypto-friendly policies. The government has consistently expressed commitment to establishing secure environments for digital asset activities.

The stablecoin sandbox represents the latest step in balancing innovation support with investor protection. Results from the 2026 testing period will determine the final shape of UK stablecoin regulations.