UK Finance, a trade association representing over 300 financial services firms in the United Kingdom, has launched a joint pilot project for tokenized sterling deposits (GBTD).
The trade group has launched a pilot phase for a tokenized deposits project, which aims to provide a digital representation of traditional pound sterling commercial bank money, it announced on Friday.
The pilot is launched in collaboration with six major banks operating in the UK, including Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest, Nationwide and Santander.
UK Finance plans to run the pilot until mid-2026 and aims to explore benefits to customers, businesses and the UK economy, targeting greater control over payments, fraud prevention and more efficient settlement processes.
Quant Network to provide infrastructure
UK Finance’s GBTD infrastructure will be provided by Quant Network, a UK-headquartered platform specializing in blockchain interoperability.
Quant’s involvement builds on its successful delivery of the first phase of the Regulated Liability Network (RLN) — a UK-led initiative for shared ledger-based financial market infrastructure — which UK Finance launched in 2024.
The RLN project engaged all six banks participating in the GBTD initiative, along with other major financial institutions, including Citi, Mastercard, Standard Chartered, Virgin Money and Visa.
Three major use cases
Among the use cases, the GBTD project will test three main areas: online marketplace payments, remortgaging processes and wholesale bond settlement.
According to Quant founder and CEO Gilbert Verdian, the project goes beyond improving payments and is about enabling new forms of programmable money that will “fundamentally transform how value is moved and managed.”
“Our involvement underscores Quant’s leadership in digital finance, as we work alongside the UK’s leading institutions to build the infrastructure powering tomorrow’s economy,” Verdian said.
UK FCA to launch crypto regulations in 2026
UK Finance’s tokenized deposits pilot launched amid the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) finalizing its crypto regulatory framework, with the full regime reportedly expected to come into effect in 2026.
In April 2025, the UK Treasury published a policy note on “Future financial services regulatory regime for crypto assets,” highlighting a clear distinction between qualifying stablecoin and tokenized deposits and electronic money.
Related: UK to strengthen ties with US on crypto matters: Report
According to a report by the Financial Times on Sunday, the FCA has been speeding up crypto approvals in response to criticism recently, as the UK is inching closer to adopting a full regulatory framework next year.
In the meantime, the European Union has been steadily advancing the application of the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, which entered full force in late 2024. While MiCA broadly regulates tokenization across various crypto-assets, tokenized deposits fall outside its regulatory scope as they remain governed under traditional banking and deposit frameworks.
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