UK Finance, the trade association representing more than 300 UK financial services companies, has launched a joint pilot project for tokenized Sterling Deposits (GBTD).
The trade group has launched a pilot phase for its tokenized deposit project. It aims to provide a digital representation of traditional British pound commercial bank money, the announcement on Friday.
The pilot was launched in collaboration with six major UK banks including Barclays, HSBC, Lloyd’s Banking Group, Natwest, nationwide and Santander.
UK finance is set to run the pilot until mid-2026, aiming to explore benefits for customers, businesses and the UK economy, with the goal of greater control of payments, fraud prevention and a more efficient settlement process.
Quant Network that provides infrastructure
UK Finance’s GBTD infrastructure is provided by Quant Network, a UK headquarters platform specializing in blockchain interoperability.
Quant’s involvement has successfully succeeded in the first phase of the Regulatory Responsibility Network (RLN), a UK-led initiative for shared ledger-based financial market infrastructure launched by UK finance in 2024.
The RLN project was involved with all six banks participating in the GBTD initiative and other major financial institutions such as Citi, MasterCard, Standard Charter, Virgin Money and Visa.
Three main use cases
Among the use cases, the GBTD project tests three key areas: online marketplace payments, recurrence process and wholesale bond settlement.
According to Quant Founder and CEO Gilbert Verdian, the project goes beyond improving payments, allowing a new form of programmable money “to fundamentally change the way value is moved and managed.”
“Our engagement highlights Quanta’s leadership in digital finance, working with key UK institutions to build infrastructure that will excel tomorrow’s economic strength,” Berdian said.
UK FCA launches crypto regulations in 2026
UK Finance’s tokenized deposit pilot has finalised a cryptographic regulatory framework within the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and is reportedly expected to have a full administration in 2026.
In April 2025, the UK Treasury issued a policy memo on “crypto assets for future financial services regulatory regimes,” highlighting the clear distinction between eligible stubcoins and tokenized deposits and e-money.
Related: UK strengthening our relationship with us on cryptographic issues: Report
According to a Financial Times report on Sunday, the FCA is accelerating crypto approvals in response to recent criticism as it approaches adopting a full regulatory framework next year.
In the meantime, the European Union has steadily made its market adoption under fully-powered crypto assets (MICA) regulations in the second half of 2024.
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