The UK's tokenization taskforce has expanded significantly with major financial institutions now participating. According to HM Treasury reports, BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Citi, Deutsche Bank, and UBS have joined the 54-firm strong group that is backed by the City of London Corporation. The initiative is led by Christopher Woolard, HM Treasury's Wholesale Digital Markets Champion and former interim head of the Financial Conduct Authority, who emphasized that tokenized markets are "a network game" where the UK's position is not guaranteed. As Woolard stated, "Like all network games, it is a race and one where the U.K. needs to move at the speed of the most agile players if we want to ensure we have a stake in developing the approach for international markets." The group will spend the next year working on live tokenization use cases across UK financial markets, initially focused on tokenized repo transactions.
The strategy estimates that tokenized finance could add $44.15 billion (£33 billion) to annual UK output by 2035, with $29.45 billion (£22 billion) in yearly tax revenue representing a more cautious scenario. These figures depend on adoption, regulation and the UK winning a meaningful share of a global tokenized asset market that the report values at a possible $55 trillion by 2035. According to Barclays and PwC estimates, roughly two-thirds of the economic gain would fall outside financial services, in the wider economy. The main opportunities are productivity and cost efficiencies which could benefit global trading centers like London, with the report predicting up to $44.15 billion increase in annual economic output and $19 billion in annual tax revenue by 2035. The prize reflects how early the market still is, with tokenized real-world assets (RWA) standing near $30 billion in 2025, a sliver of global markets, yet that value jumped about 300% over the year.
The first practical focus will be tokenized repo transactions, where securities serve as collateral for short-term cash borrowing. The group aims to test and, where possible, run a live end-to-end repo transaction by spring 2027, with precedent already established through Digital Asset's cross-border intraday repo trade using tokenized gilts on its Canton network in early 2026. The plan also calls for progress on DIGIT, the UK government's proposed digital gilt instrument, with Woolard urging an early pilot no later than the first quarter of 2027 to make the UK the first Group of Seven nation to issue tokenized government debt. The taskforce will also address whether tokenized government bonds can qualify as collateral, helping firms use digital securities inside existing wholesale markets.
The UK has already opened regulated testing for tokenized securities through the Financial Conduct Authority and Bank of England's Digital Securities Sandbox program. The program covers live issuance and settlement of tokenized bonds, equities and fund units with 16 firms participating. The Financial Conduct Authority will open applications for its cryptoasset regime on September 30, 2026, with full rollout following in October 2027, alongside broader UK stablecoin plans. The initiative is supported by ongoing consultations by the Bank of England and Financial Conduct Authority, with the taskforce publishing updates during the year and inviting industry feedback through September 4 on priorities and timetable. The UK has already produced working proof points, with Lloyds, Aberdeen, and Archax completing a UK-first tokenized foreign exchange trade collateralized in 2025, and Baillie Gifford and BNY launching Britain's first fully tokenized investment fund in June 2026.
The taskforce includes major financial institutions alongside Ripple, with BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Citi, Deutsche Bank, and UBS among the 54-member group. Asset managers Fidelity International, Schroders, and State Street also signed on, alongside market infrastructure firms DTCC, Euroclear, and the London Stock Exchange Group. Notably, the group now includes Coinbase and Circle alongside traditional financial institutions, reflecting the growing convergence of traditional finance and crypto markets. Asset managers Fidelity International, Schroders, and State Street also signed on, alongside market infrastructure firms DTCC, Euroclear, and the London Stock Exchange Group. Ripple's support aligns with its wider work in payments, stablecoins, custody and tokenized assets, with the company stating that Britain has the market depth and regulatory standing to lead tokenized wholesale finance. The initiative targets wholesale markets worth $44.15 billion, representing a significant shift from legacy financial systems to blockchain technology, with other jurisdictions such as the US and European Union also looking at tokenization integration into traditional finance.
