- UK Finance launches a GBTD pilot with six banks to test tokenised sterling deposits through to 2026.
- Quant Network provides infrastructure for a digital sterling pilot examining payments, repayments and wholesale bond settlement.
- The FCA is preparing crypto rules for implementation by 2026 as the UK pilots tokenised deposits to enable safer, more efficient transactions.
UK Finance has launched a live pilot for tokenised sterling bank deposits (GBTD), marking a significant step toward integrating digital innovation into conventional banking.
The initiative, announced on Friday, is being developed in collaboration with six major banks — Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest, Nationwide and Santander — and will run through mid-2026.
The pilot will evaluate how tokenised deposits could modernise payments, reduce fraud and improve settlement processes while aligning with the government’s broader plan to bring regulated clarity to cryptoassets by 2026.
Six banks will test digital sterling deposits
The GBTD pilot is designed to create a digital representation of commercial bank money denominated in pounds sterling.
By partnering with six major banks, UK Finance aims to measure the potential benefits of tokenised deposits for consumers, businesses and the wider UK economy.
Organisers expect the programme to support more secure payment flows, streamline settlement systems and give customers improved control over their payment activity.
Quant Network, a UK-based blockchain interoperability firm, is supplying the underlying infrastructure for the project.
The company previously supported the Regulated Liability Network (RLN), a shared-ledger financial market framework trialled in 2024 with the same banks and other institutions including Citi, Mastercard, Standard Chartered, Virgin Money and Visa.
Quant Network builds the infrastructure
Thanks to Quant’s involvement, the GBTD pilot will test three core use cases: marketplace payments, repayment flows and wholesale bond delivery-versus-payment.
Quant says the project goes beyond simple payments by introducing programmable money, which could change how value is managed and transferred.
The technology aims to deliver efficiency gains and new settlement models that could support both retail and wholesale financial activity.
The effort builds on lessons from the RLN trials, which provided a regulated environment to explore distributed ledger technology within traditional banking operations.
Applying those insights, the GBTD pilot is expected to produce practical results that could inform broader adoption in the coming years.
The pilot aligns with upcoming regulation
The launch coincides with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) finalising a regulatory regime for cryptoassets that is due to come into force in 2026.
In April 2025, the Treasury published a policy note clarifying how regulated requirements apply differently to stablecoins and tokenised deposits compared with electronic money.
The FCA has accelerated its work on crypto rules following criticism and is preparing the ground for a more structured regulatory framework.
Meanwhile, the European Union has already introduced the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, which addresses many tokenisation topics.
Tokenised deposits, however, generally fall outside MiCA because they remain subject to traditional deposit and banking regulations.
This regulatory distinction underlines the UK’s approach to creating a clear path for tokenised commercial bank money as part of its broader financial innovation strategy.
What the project aims to achieve
The pilot is expected to run for at least 18 months, with findings that will inform future policy decisions.
By testing tokenised deposits in real-world scenarios, UK Finance and its partners aim to understand how these instruments can operate within regulated banking systems.
The project is positioned as a controlled experiment to bring distributed ledger capabilities into mainstream financial services without replacing existing banking structures.