Coinbase has listed its first British pound-backed stablecoin, tGBP, issued by BCP Technologies.
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BCP launched tGBP last year, the first British pound-backed stablecoin from an FCA-registered crypto issuer.
Coinbase says it is listing tGBP as locally-denominated stablecoins are crucial to helping the UK realise the benefits of the digital economy.
The crypto exchange claims that by using a GBP-backed stablecoin, people can reduce friction in money movement, avoid FX volatility, and participate in the burgeoning world of tokenised real-world assets and the on-chain economy.
The stablecoin listing comes just days after Coinbase began letting UK customers borrow against their crypto and months after the launch of interest-bearing savings accounts in the country.
However, as it embeds itself into Britain, the firm is also offering a critique of its regulatory regime, arguing against “overly punitive prudential requirements” and for rewards on stablecoin holdings.
Coinbase, which has been vocal in its criticisms of the regulatory landscape in its home market of the US, also calls the idea of a “regulatory speed limit” on stablecoin issuance “effectively a cap on innovation”.
Finally, it calls for regulators to allow stablecoins to be used as the settlement asset in tokenisation of wholesale markets, outside of the FCA sandbox in a real world environment.
Meanwhile, in New York, the firm is facing a lawsuit, brought by the state’s attorney general, that claims that its prediction market is an unlicensed gambling operation.
