Key Takeaways:
HM Treasury's Wholesale Digital Markets Champion Chris Woolard convened a 54-firm UK tokenization taskforce, backed by the City of London Corporation, in his first report to the Chancellor on July 13.
The group will spend 12 months building live tokenization use cases across wholesale financial markets, starting with tokenized repo, and will form nine action groups.
The UK Treasury estimates tokenized markets could add up to 33 billion pounds in annual economic output and 14 billion pounds in tax revenue by 2035.
The United Kingdom pulled 54 financial firms into a single tokenization taskforce on July 13, part of a government push to move blockchain-based markets from pilots to live trading. The group was convened by Chris Woolard, HM Treasury's Wholesale Digital Markets Champion and the former chair of the Financial Conduct Authority, in his first report to the Chancellor.
The roster reads like a map of global finance. BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, HSBC, Barclays, Citi and UBS sit alongside crypto-native firms Coinbase, Circle, Ripple and Kraken, plus market plumbing like DTCC, Euroclear and the London Stock Exchange Group. The City of London Corporation is backing the work.
Over the next 12 months the taskforce will build live end-to-end use cases, starting with tokenized repo, the short-term borrowing that keeps markets funded day to day. Nine action groups will cover tokenized collateral, tokenized funds, payment rails, and the legal and tax rules that have to exist first.
The numbers behind it are large. The UK Treasury estimates tokenized markets could add up to 33 billion pounds to annual economic output and 14 billion pounds in tax revenue by 2035. Boston Consulting Group has estimated the tokenized real-world asset market could reach 88 trillion dollars by 2035, against roughly 3 trillion dollars in crypto and stablecoins today.
"the UK is uniquely placed to become the global leader in wholesale market tokenisation"
Chris Woolard, HM Treasury Wholesale Digital Markets Champion
The UK is not moving alone. The taskforce lands the same month the SEC's own Regulation Crypto rule is expected to introduce a fundraising safe harbor for token projects, and weeks after Swift switched on a blockchain ledger with 17 banks piloting tokenized deposits. The pattern here is hard to ignore, governments and the largest institutions are now building the rails rather than debating whether to. Worth watching.
People Also Ask
What is the UK tokenization taskforce?
It is a 54-firm group convened by HM Treasury's Wholesale Digital Markets Champion Chris Woolard on July 13, 2026, tasked with building live tokenization use cases across UK wholesale financial markets over the next year.
Which companies joined the UK tokenization taskforce?
Members include BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, HSBC, Barclays, UBS, Coinbase, Circle, Ripple, Kraken, DTCC, Euroclear and the London Stock Exchange Group, among 54 firms.
What is tokenized repo?
Repo is short-term borrowing secured by assets that funds daily market activity. Tokenized repo runs that trade on a blockchain, aiming for faster settlement and round-the-clock movement of collateral.
How much could tokenization add to the UK economy?
The UK Treasury estimates up to 33 billion pounds in additional annual economic output and 14 billion pounds in annual tax revenue by 2035.
Sources: CoinDesk, City of London Corporation, HM Treasury (Woolard report)