The UK has set out a coordinated national plan to accelerate the development of tokenised wholesale financial markets, publishing a detailed roadmap that positions the country to take a leading role in the global shift towards digital market infrastructure.
The first report from Wholesale Digital Markets Champion Christopher Woolard CBE outlines how the UK intends to move from pilots to live, scalable tokenised markets across fixed income, collateral, funds and payments. The report warns that international standards and infrastructure are forming quickly and says the UK must act at pace to secure its position as a global financial centre for digital assets.
Tokenised real‑world assets could reach $88trn by 2035, according to estimates cited in the report, with modelling suggesting up to £33bn in annual UK economic output and £14bn in tax revenues. The UK currently processes more than £4trn in securities each day, giving it the scale to anchor global liquidity if digital market infrastructure is built onshore.
The publication comes the same week industry leaders convened in London for the Capital Pioneer Digital Assets Summit, where more than 300 participants discussed the rapid expansion of tokenisation across institutional markets. The event featured speakers from major banks, asset managers, market infrastructures and digital‑asset firms, reflecting growing momentum behind the transition to programmable, 24/7 financial markets.
Woolard’s report sets out ten priority areas for industry and regulators, including the development of interoperable digital securities platforms, tokenised collateral models, wholesale payment rails, legal certainty for digital instruments and technology‑neutral tax treatment. A series of nine Action Groups will be established to deliver these priorities, supported by an Orchestration Group tasked with coordinating an end‑to‑end tokenised repo trial.
The report also calls for a live issuance of a Digital Gilt Instrument (DIGIT) by Q1 2027, which would make the UK the first G7 nation to issue government debt on a blockchain‑based infrastructure. It says predictable pathways from the Digital Securities Sandbox to full authorisation are needed to give firms confidence to invest in new systems.
Industry activity is already increasing. The London Stock Exchange Group has launched its Digital Markets Infrastructure platform for private funds, while firms including Lloyds Banking Group, Aberdeen Investments, HSBC and Santander UK have completed tokenised collateral, payments and digital bond pilots. New digital‑market initiatives referenced in the report — including HSBC Orion and tokenised deposit models using synchronisation layers — are expanding the ecosystem alongside established financial institutions.
The report says the UK’s combination of deep liquidity, trusted legal frameworks and regulatory openness provides a strong foundation for digital market development. It calls for continued collaboration between Government, regulators and industry to ensure the UK remains competitive as other jurisdictions advance their own tokenisation strategies.
The Digital Markets Champion will publish a second report next year, setting out further recommendations based on industry feedback and the progress of the Action Groups.
