Coinbase Lists tGBP, FCA-Registered Pound Stablecoin

Coinbase added tGBP, the first British pound-backed stablecoin issued under FCA registration, to its global platform on April 22. The token is issued by BCP Technologies, redeemable one-for-one in sterling and backed by cash and short-term UK government bonds.

The exchange noted the listing follows BCP Technologies’ participation in the FCA regulatory sandbox and makes tGBP available to Coinbase’s global user base. Coinbase argued that a proposed requirement for systemic stablecoin issuers to hold 40% of reserves in unremunerated central bank cash would be ‘not risk-based.’ The company also warned that ‘implementing a ‘regulatory speed limit’ or cap on stablecoin issuance is effectively a cap on innovation’ and urged that stablecoins be permitted as settlement assets in wholesale tokenization markets outside the sandbox.

Two days before the tGBP listing, Coinbase launched crypto-backed lending for UK users. The product allows borrowers to take out USDC loans against Bitcoin, Ether and cbETH collateral in under a minute, and operates on Morpho, an open-source protocol on Base, Coinbase’s layer-2 network. UK users can borrow up to $5 million in USDC depending on collateral value. Coinbase reported that the lending feature first launched in the United States in January 2025 and had generated more than $2.17 billion in loan originations through Morpho as of mid-April 2026. The exchange has also added decentralized exchange trading and savings accounts in the UK in roughly the past six months.

On the same day, the Financial Conduct Authority carried out enforcement action against illegal peer-to-peer crypto trading in London. The regulator served cease-and-desist letters at eight addresses and gathered evidence to support ongoing criminal investigations, describing the operation as its first joint action targeting unlawful peer-to-peer crypto trading in the city. The FCA noted there are currently no FCA-registered peer-to-peer crypto traders or platforms operating in the UK and said anyone offering such services is operating outside the law.

The FCA’s full regime for crypto asset firms is scheduled to take effect in October 2027, with firm authorization applications opening from September 2026. That timetable leaves a transition period during which firms can use regulatory sandboxes or prepare authorization applications.

Market context: the global stablecoin market recently topped $300 billion in aggregate market capitalization. Coinbase projected potential growth toward a $2 trillion market and cited an estimated $30 trillion in stablecoin-settled transactions in 2025. BCP’s tGBP provides a sterling-pegged option issued under FCA registration for users seeking pound-denominated stable value.

Keith Grose, Coinbase’s senior country director for the UK, framed the lending launch as part of efforts to make ‘Coinbase the best place to invest in crypto and manage money in the UK.’