Stablecoins, explained properly
A pound that moves at the speed of a text message.
No jargon on this page. Just what this is, why it is happening now, and what it means if you run a business or spend money in one.
A stablecoin is money that holds its value and travels over the internet.
Ordinary money already moves electronically, but it moves through a chain of banks. That chain is why a card payment takes days to reach you, why it costs a percentage of every sale, and why it can be pulled back out of your account months later.
A stablecoin skips the chain. It is issued against real money held in reserve, so one pound is one pound, and it settles directly between two people in seconds for a fraction of a penny.
That is the whole idea. It is not an investment, it does not go up and down, and there is nothing to speculate on. It is a way of moving money that is faster and cheaper than the one we have.
The same payment, sent two ways. One hops between intermediaries for days and sheds a percentage on the way. The other settles directly, while the customer is still standing in front of you.
Why now
Britain wrote the rules in June.
The Bank of England published its regime
In June 2026 the Bank set out how sterling stablecoins will be backed, redeemed and supervised. Issuers must hold real assets against every coin and redeem at face value on demand.
The limits that would have killed it were dropped
Earlier proposals capped how much anyone could hold. Those were removed. Businesses and individuals will be able to pay and be paid without limits on the size or frequency of a transaction.
Issuers come next
With a framework in place, regulated sterling issuers can be authorised. The plumbing is being laid now, ahead of the businesses that will use it.
What changes
The difference, put simply.
Taking a card payment today
Between 1.5% and 3% is taken before the money reaches you.
Funds settle in two to three working days.
A payment can be reversed against you months later.
Paying someone abroad takes days and loses money twice.
Every sale is a line to reconcile by hand at quarter end.
Taking a stablecoin payment
The network fee is a fraction of a penny, whatever the amount.
The money is in your wallet in about a second.
Once it has settled, it is settled. Nobody can reach back for it.
Paying a contractor in Manila is the same as paying one in Manchester.
It lands in your books already recorded, valued in pounds.
If you run a business
You keep more of what you sell, and you keep it sooner.
The money arrives while the customer is still standing at the counter. Nothing is held back, nothing is deducted, and nothing can be clawed back after you have handed over the goods.
The part most people do not expect is the paperwork. Because the payment is recorded as it happens, your VAT and your capital gains are worked out for you rather than reconstructed months later from a spreadsheet.
See how it works for businessIf you are paying
You pay a business directly, and it is done.
No card network sitting between you and the shop. You approve the payment on your own phone, the business sees it immediately, and you both have a record of it.
Because the business saves on fees, a lot of them will pass some of that back as a discount or a reward. That is the part you will actually notice.
See how it works for youWhere this honestly stands today
There is no regulated sterling stablecoin yet. The rules exist, the issuers do not, and anyone telling you otherwise is selling something.
What works today is dollar-denominated stablecoins, which a growing number of businesses already accept. Ceodore handles those now, invoices in pounds, and does the conversion arithmetic so your books stay right.
When a sterling coin is authorised, it becomes another option in a list you already have. Nothing about how you work has to change. That is why we are building it now rather than waiting.
Built in London, for the way Britain does its accounts.
Ceodore is the layer between a stablecoin payment and a set of books that satisfies HMRC. Servers in London, VAT and capital gains built in, and nobody holding your money at any point.