Perigon Take Cryptocurrencies and stablecoins are following a pattern not unlike Open Banking: early hype that fades, masking a slower but more consequential undercurrent of structural change. Digital currencies and tokenisation are another foundational layer in the transformation of the banking system. When agentic AI is added to that picture, the prospect of instant, automated transfers moving consumer and business funds to the best available rate multiple times a day becomes credible. That is, in effect, the eradication of net interest margin (NIM): historically the primary revenue engine for UK retail banks.
The FCA's new crypto rules, broadly aligned with MiCA, give important clarity to all players but may, perhaps most significantly, give banks a better shot at being the disruptors rather than merely the disrupted. The regime mirrors existing financial services regulation that banks already navigate with confidence, potentially making incumbents better placed than challengers to operate at scale within it. For boards that have filed digital currency under "long-horizon emerging risk", now is the time to revisit that classification. Run scenarios that include NIM-destroying outcomes alongside those in which traditional players sit at the centre of a new digital currency model. The FCA's other consultations reinforce a direction of travel towards consolidation and reduced regulatory complexity, making now a good moment to engage, not wait.
