The UK Treasury has launched a Tokenisation Taskforce bringing together 54 major global financial institutions to push real-world asset tokenization into the country’s wholesale financial markets. Participants include BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and UBS.
According to the report, the initiative was announced on July 13, 2026, Beijing time. Its initial focus is tokenized repo, with the group set to build practical use cases before expanding tokenization into other parts of the UK financial system.
Taskforce to focus first on tokenized repo
The group is being led by Chris Woolard, the UK Treasury’s appointed wholesale digital markets champion and former chair of the Financial Conduct Authority, and has backing from the City of London Corporation.
Over the next year, the taskforce plans to start with live tokenized repo applications, then broaden the work into other key market segments in an effort to build a functioning blockchain-based financial environment.
UK targets a market BCG sees at $88 trillion by 2035
The economic case behind the push is sizable. Boston Consulting Group estimated that the global market for tokenized RWAs could reach $88 trillion by 2035. The report said that figure is well above the current combined market value of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, at about $3 trillion.
The UK government expects that taking an early lead in tokenization infrastructure could improve market productivity and cost efficiency, adding as much as £33 billion a year to the economy and generating an extra £14 billion in tax revenue.
In his first report to the UK chancellor, Woolard described the shift as a “network game” and warned that the UK needs to move quickly or risk losing ground to jurisdictions including the US and the EU.
Interoperability and cross-network settlement remain hurdles
The report also highlighted technical and structural obstacles. Kirit Bhatia, chief digital assets officer at Banking Circle, said the main challenge is making tokenized assets work smoothly for financing, settlement, collateral use and movement across different blockchain networks.
He said the market needs modern payment infrastructure that supports real-time settlement, cross-border transfers and multiple regulated currencies, while also connecting stablecoins, tokenized deposits and traditional fiat systems. Without that, digital assets with strong potential would remain constrained by older infrastructure.