The U.K. is making its strongest push yet to position itself as a global leader in blockchain-powered financial markets, unveiling a government-backed strategy that argues tokenizing traditional assets could generate as much as £33 billion ($44 billion) in additional annual economic output by 2035.
The roadmap, led by HM Treasury’s Wholesale Digital Markets Champion Chris Woolard and supported by a task force representing 54 financial institutions, outlines a 12-month plan to accelerate the adoption of tokenized financial infrastructure across wholesale markets. The initiative focuses on practical use cases including tokenized government bonds, repurchase (repo) markets and collateral management, rather than cryptocurrencies themselves. According to the Financial Times, the report argues that accelerating tokenization is essential for maintaining the U.K.’s competitiveness as global financial markets increasingly adopt distributed ledger technology.
Tokenization refers to representing real-world financial assets—such as bonds, equities or real estate—as digital tokens on distributed ledger technology. Advocates argue the approach can shorten settlement times, reduce operational costs, improve transparency and unlock liquidity across capital markets.
The report estimates that widespread adoption could also generate £14 billion in additional tax revenue over the next decade while helping the U.K. defend its position as one of the world’s leading financial centers amid increasing competition from the United States, Singapore, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates. The projections are detailed in the government’s roadmap, as reported by the Financial Times.
A key recommendation is for the British government to issue a digital gilt by early next year and establish a regular issuance program, alongside enabling tokenized government securities to be accepted as collateral in wholesale funding markets. The task force also aims to demonstrate end-to-end tokenized repo transactions within the next year. Additional details on the proposed implementation timeline are available in Ledger Insights’ coverage of the roadmap.
The strategy reflects a broader shift in the blockchain industry away from speculative digital assets and toward institutional financial infrastructure. Large banks, asset managers and regulated crypto firms—including Barclays, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, UBS, BlackRock, Coinbase and Circle—are participating in the initiative, highlighting growing convergence between traditional finance and distributed ledger technology. Yahoo Finance reported that the participation of major global financial institutions underscores the industry’s growing confidence in tokenized capital markets.
Industry estimates cited in the report suggest the global market for tokenized real-world assets could reach $88 trillion by 2035, making the technology one of the largest long-term opportunities in financial services. The report warns, however, that slow execution risks allowing liquidity, market infrastructure and international standards to migrate to competing jurisdictions—a concern echoed throughout the Financial Times analysis.
The roadmap arrives as policymakers worldwide increasingly focus on blockchain as a modernization tool for capital markets rather than solely as the technology underpinning cryptocurrencies. Recent regulatory adjustments by the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority have also signaled a more accommodating approach to digital financial infrastructure, strengthening the U.K.’s ambition to become a leading hub for tokenized finance, according to reporting by the Financial Times.