UK Finance, the representative body for over 300 firms in the UK’s financial sector, has initiated a collaborative pilot program focused on tokenized sterling deposits (GBTD).
The organization announced the launch of this pilot phase, which aims to create a digital equivalent of conventional British pound commercial bank funds, on Friday. The project is designed to explore the potential benefits of representing fiat currency on a blockchain.
This trial run is a joint effort involving six major banking institutions active in the United Kingdom: Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest, Nationwide, and Santander.
UK Finance intends to continue the pilot program until the middle of 2026. The project will investigate possible advantages for consumers, businesses, and the broader UK economy. The expected benefits include increased control over transactions, enhanced fraud prevention measures, and more streamlined settlement procedures.
Quant Network to provide infrastructure
The technological foundation for UK Finance’s GBTD initiative will be supplied by Quant Network, a UK-based company specializing in blockchain interoperability solutions.
Quant’s role builds on their successful completion of the initial stage of the Regulated Liability Network (RLN), a UK initiative for a shared ledger-based financial market infrastructure, first announced by UK Finance in 2024.
The RLN project involved all six banks now participating in the GBTD project, along with other significant financial players such as Citi, Mastercard, Standard Chartered, Virgin Money, and Visa.
Three major use cases
The GBTD project will assess three primary applications: payments within online marketplaces, the process of remortgaging properties, and the settlement of wholesale bonds.
According to Gilbert Verdian, founder and CEO of Quant, this project extends beyond simply improving payment systems. It aims to develop innovative forms of programmable money that will “fundamentally reshape how value is transacted and managed.”
“Our participation highlights Quant’s position as a leader in digital finance, as we collaborate with the UK’s foremost institutions to develop the infrastructure powering the future economy,” Verdian stated.
UK FCA to launch crypto regulations in 2026
The launch of UK Finance’s tokenized deposits pilot coincides with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) finalizing its regulatory framework for crypto assets. The full implementation of these regulations is anticipated in 2026.
In April 2025, the UK Treasury released a policy document on the “Future financial services regulatory regime for crypto assets,” clearly differentiating between qualified stablecoins, tokenized deposits, and electronic money.
Related: UK to strengthen ties with US on crypto matters: Report
A recent report in the Financial Times suggests that the FCA is accelerating the approval process for crypto-related matters following recent criticism, as the UK moves closer to adopting its comprehensive regulatory framework in the coming year.
Meanwhile, the European Union continues to move forward with the implementation of the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, which fully came into effect in late 2024. While MiCA provides broad regulatory oversight for tokenization across diverse crypto-assets, tokenized deposits are excluded from its jurisdiction, as they remain governed by traditional banking and deposit regulations.
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