The UK Finance is an industry association representing over 300 financial services firms in the UK, which has jointly launched a pilot project for tokenized pound deposits (GBTD, GBP Tokenized Deposits).
The industry organization announced the launch of the tokenized deposit project pilot phase on Friday, aimed at digitizing traditional pound sterling commercial bank deposits.
The pilot project is being launched in collaboration with six major banks in the UK, including Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest, Nationwide Building Society, and Santander.
UK Finance plans to continue the pilot until mid-2026, exploring its benefits for customers, businesses, and the UK economy, while promoting improvements in payment control, fraud prevention, and settlement process efficiency.
The infrastructure for the UK Finance GBTD project will be provided by Quant Network, a UK-based platform focused on blockchain interoperability.
Quant's involvement stems from its successful delivery of the first phase of the UK-led Regulated Liability Network (RLN) project. This project aims to build a financial market infrastructure based on shared ledgers and is set to be launched by UK Finance in 2024.
The RLN project has attracted participation from the six banks involved in the GBTD pilot, as well as major financial institutions like Citibank and Mastercard.
In terms of applications, the GBTD project will test three main areas: online marketplace payments, re-staking processes, and wholesale bond settlements.
Gilbert Verdian, founder and CEO of Quant, stated that the project not only enhances payment capabilities but also realizes a new type of programmable currency, which is expected to fundamentally change the way value flows and is managed.
Verdian said, "Our participation highlights Quant's leadership in the digital finance space, and we are working with leading UK institutions to build the infrastructure for the future economy."
As the UK Finance tokenized deposit pilot project is launched, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is refining its cryptocurrency regulatory framework, which is expected to be officially implemented by 2026.
In April 2025, the UK Treasury released a policy statement on the "Future Financial Services Crypto Asset Regulatory Framework," clearly distinguishing between qualified stablecoins, tokenized deposits, and electronic money.
According to a report by the Financial Times, the FCA has recently accelerated its cryptocurrency approval process in response to external criticism, as the UK gradually approaches the full adoption of the regulatory framework next year.
Meanwhile, the European Union is steadily advancing the application of the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, which will come into full effect by the end of 2024. Notably, while MiCA broadly regulates various types of tokenized crypto assets, tokenized deposits are not within its regulatory scope and remain subject to traditional banking and deposit-related regulations.
Related: Crypto Executives: Stablecoins Need Consumer Protection to Replace Existing Payment Giants
Original: “UK Finance and Six Major Banks Jointly Pilot Tokenized Pound Deposits”
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