Overview
- The taskforce, announced in a Treasury report published July 13, brings together 54 banks, asset managers, market infrastructure and crypto firms to turn sandbox pilots into regulated, production tokenized markets.
- Its first practical goal is to test and, where possible, run an end-to-end tokenized repurchase agreement by spring 2027 and to progress a Digital Gilt pilot for early 2027 issuance.
- Tokenization means recording ownership of bonds, funds and other assets as digital tokens on distributed ledgers to shorten settlement, cut back-office work and free up capital for other uses.
- The report cites Barclays and PwC modelling that estimates tokenization could add up to £33 billion a year to UK output and about £14 billion a year in tax revenue by 2035 if adoption scales.
- Regulators are already testing tokenized securities in the Bank of England and FCA sandbox but the taskforce says legal clarity on custody, capital treatment and what counts as settlement money plus interoperable rails remain needed before broad rollout; the report also highlights firms such as Ripple as examples of crypto and traditional finance convergence.