The Bank of England is pushing the UK’s core settlement infrastructure toward near 24/7 availability, a move that could make the country’s payment rails more compatible with stablecoins, tokenized deposits and tokenized securities.
The next stage starts with RTGS and CHAPS settlement hours, the systems that underpin high-value sterling payments and financial-market settlement. CHAPS is already set to open at 01:30 instead of 06:00 from September 2027. The new roadmap would then add Sunday and selected bank-holiday settlement no earlier than 2029, before moving toward 22-hour settlement on weekdays and one weekend day no earlier than 2031.
Longer settlement hours matter because tokenized markets do not operate on the same clock as traditional banking. Stablecoins, tokenized deposits and blockchain-based asset ledgers can move around the clock, while central-bank settlement windows still create gaps during nights, weekends and holidays. Those gaps can increase liquidity pressure, delay settlement finality and make delivery-versus-payment structures harder to run across programmable markets.
The longer-term options now under review include 22×7 settlement or near-continuous 23.5×7 CHAPS settlement. That would not make every UK bank, broker, stablecoin issuer or market infrastructure operate around the clock immediately, but it would bring the central settlement layer closer to the always-on design already used by blockchain networks and global digital-asset markets.
Stablecoin Caps Face A Softer Path
The settlement-hours roadmap lands as the UK also rethinks some of its toughest stablecoin guardrails. Earlier proposals would have placed temporary holding limits of £20,000 per individual and £10 million per business for systemic sterling stablecoins used in everyday payments. Those limits drew heavy industry criticism because they could be difficult to enforce across wallets, exchanges and payment apps.
The earlier £20,000 stablecoin limit proposal now looks less fixed. The Bank of England is weighing alternatives, including possible guardrails on total issuance rather than direct user-level holding caps. Draft rules are expected next month, with final rules targeted by year-end.
That shift could be important for tokenized markets. Holding caps may reduce bank-deposit flight risk, but strict user-level limits can also make stablecoins harder to use for large payments, settlement, treasury operations and institutional tokenization. A total-issuance guardrail would still let regulators monitor systemic growth while reducing the operational burden of checking every holder’s balance across multiple platforms.
The UK is trying to balance two goals that often pull in opposite directions. Regulators want stablecoins used as money to remain robust, redeemable and backed by high-quality assets. Builders want rules that allow payment innovation, cross-border settlement and tokenized finance without making UK-issued stablecoins less practical than offshore alternatives.
Tokenized Markets Need Faster Cash-Leg Settlement
Tokenization changes the settlement problem because the asset leg can move faster than the cash leg. A tokenized bond, fund unit or collateral instrument can settle on a distributed ledger, but the transaction still needs reliable money settlement. If sterling settlement is unavailable on weekends or overnight, tokenized systems either wait for traditional rails, use private settlement assets, or build workarounds with added counterparty risk.
Longer RTGS and CHAPS hours would reduce that mismatch. Stablecoins and tokenized deposits could still play a role, but wider central-bank settlement availability gives tokenized markets a stronger anchor. It also supports cross-border payments by increasing overlap with settlement systems in other regions, especially as the Federal Reserve and other central banks move toward longer operating windows.
The stablecoin rule shift adds the second piece. If holding limits become less restrictive or are replaced with broader issuance controls, UK firms may have more room to test stablecoin-based settlement inside regulated tokenized finance. That could make the UK more competitive in digital securities, wholesale payments and institutional blockchain infrastructure.
The policy direction is still conditional. Near 24/7 settlement will arrive in phases, the first weekend step would not begin before 2029, and stablecoin rules are not final. The important change is that the UK is now aligning payment infrastructure, stablecoin supervision and tokenized-market design around the same problem: financial markets are becoming always-on, and the settlement layer has to move closer to that reality.
