Bank of England Tests Stablecoin-Pound Interoperability with New Consortium

The Bank of England has selected NOBO Finance, Dun & Bradstreet, and Polygon Labs to participate in the second phase of its Digital Pound Lab. The consortium will test how stablecoins and a potential digital pound can interoperate to improve cross-border trade finance.

The project aims to tackle the financing gap created by slow settlement and limited credit access for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Manual verification and fragmented financial data make it difficult for SMEs to prove their creditworthiness, while waiting for international payments can tie up vital working capital.

In Phase 2, the consortium will develop two main workstreams. The first, led by NOBO with Dun & Bradstreet and Polygon Labs, will combine consented wallet activity, open finance data, and commercial intelligence to produce a reusable credit outcome.

The second workstream will explore eBL-backed invoice factoring with multi-rail settlement. Exporters would receive financing through a stablecoin rail, while UK importers would settle the final payment in digital pounds.