Ripple Joins UK's £33B Tokenization Plot, Quietly Forgets to Invite the Banks ✨

Ripple has formally signed onto a UK HM Treasury-backed strategy that aims to steer wholesale financial markets onto tokenized infrastructure, with industry estimates projecting the shift could unlock up to £33 billion in annual economic output and £14 billion in yearly tax revenue by 2035. The company confirmed it will work with Wholesale Digital Markets Champion Chris Woolard, who was appointed by HM Treasury in April, and will support the rollout of tokenized collateral, secondary markets and DIGIT, the UK government's proposed digital gilt instrument. The strategy values a potential global tokenized asset market at up to $88 trillion by 2035, though reaching those figures depends on adoption, regulation and the UK securing a meaningful share of that market. Ripple said on-chain funds, bonds and repo transactions are already live, adding: "Onchain funds, bonds and repo aren't experiments. They're already happening, delivering onchain financial instruments that are cheaper, better and faster than their legacy equivalents."

The taskforce coordinating the effort includes 54 firms spanning banking, asset management, market infrastructure and digital assets, and will set up nine action groups covering collateral, settlement, legal standards and market access. Its initial operational focus is tokenized repo — short-term cash borrowing backed by securities — with the group aiming to test and, where feasible, run a live end-to-end transaction by spring 2027. Officials also plan to issue the first digital gilt by early 2027 and have asked regulators to confirm whether tokenized government bonds can qualify as collateral, steps designed to let firms use digital securities inside existing wholesale markets rather than within separate pilot systems.

Regulators are already clearing the runway. The Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England are running a Digital Securities Sandbox with 16 firms, covering live issuance and settlement of tokenized bonds, equities and fund units, and have requested market feedback on settlement assets, tokenized collateral and links between blockchain networks and legacy infrastructure. Both bodies have indicated the next phase should shift activity from pilots to production, though participants still require clarity on custody, capital treatment, legal ownership and settlement money. Industry participants note that tokenization can reduce manual work and settlement delays but does not eliminate credit, operational or counterparty risk.