London-based challenger bank Monument Bank has pushed back by several months its plan to tokenize £250 million, or about $330 million, in UK retail bank deposits after failing to find a domestic crypto custodian that both met Financial Conduct Authority, or FCA, standards and could handle zero-knowledge privacy proofs. Founder Mintoo Bhandari said the bank had planned to launch what it described as the world’s first tokenized deposits two months ago on privacy-focused public blockchain Midnight, but now expects to go live for retail clients in November. To meet regulatory requirements, the bank widened its search for a custody partner beyond the UK and ultimately selected a Canadian custodian approved by the FCA. Monument first announced the project in March and said it would target mass-affluent clients with investable assets between £50,000 and £5 million, offering tokenized private equity, structured products and automated Lombard loans. Bhandari also said customer deposits would continue to earn interest, be fully backed by Monument, remain redeemable 1:1 for pounds sterling, and stay protected under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, or FSCS, up to £120,000 per person or company.
London challenger bank Monument Bank has delayed by several months a project to tokenize £250 million, or about $330 million, of UK retail bank deposits after it failed to find a local crypto custody provider that met Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) standards and could process zero-knowledge privacy proofs.
Founder Mintoo Bhandari said the bank had planned to tokenize customer deposits on Midnight, a privacy-focused public blockchain, and had hoped to launch what it described as the world’s first tokenized deposits two months ago. The bank now expects the rollout to retail clients to take another two months, putting the launch in November.
To satisfy regulatory requirements, Monument expanded its search for a custody partner overseas and ultimately found a Canadian custodian that has FCA approval.
Midnight is a privacy-first Layer 1 blockchain project backed by Charles Hoskinson. It uses zero-knowledge proofs to keep customer information inside Monument’s systems while allowing the bank to prove compliance on-chain and provide audit records to regulators.
Monument Bank announced the project in March. It said the offering would target mass-affluent clients with investable assets between £50,000 and £5 million, covering tokenized private equity, structured products and automated Lombard loans.
Bhandari said customer deposits would continue to earn interest, be fully backed by Monument, be redeemable 1:1 for pounds sterling, and remain protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) up to £120,000 per person or company.
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