Ripple backs UK tokenization strategy targeting live repo testing by spring 2027

A UK Treasury-backed roadmap is pushing tokenization from policy into live wholesale market design, with a 54-firm taskforce preparing an end-to-end tokenized repo use case as its first blockchain-based test in core financial markets. The group includes BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Barclays, Citi, State Street, Coinbase, Circle, Ripple and Wintermute, and is working under the U.K.’s Wholesale Digital Markets Champion, Chris Woolard. The report keeps repos at the center of the UK’s near-term plan because collateral movement, settlement speed and liquidity are critical to wholesale market efficiency. Over the next year, the taskforce plans to organize action groups across nine areas, with an orchestration group coordinating the repo effort, while also testing interoperability and cross-border functionality needed to move beyond isolated pilots. The roadmap also calls for tokenization use cases in fixed income and uncleared over-the-counter derivatives, and recommends an initial pilot issuance of the UK’s Digital Gilt Instrument, or DIGIT, no later than the first quarter of 2027. It presents tokenization as both a market-infrastructure upgrade and a competitiveness issue for the City of London, estimating potential gains of up to £33 billion, or about $44 billion, in additional annual economic output and $18.7 billion in annual tax revenue by 2035. Barclays and PwC also outlined a more conservative scenario of about £22 billion, or roughly $29 billion, in annual output over the same period if the UK becomes a leading hub while the U.S. and Europe adopt in parallel. Broader market activity also points to rising momentum. Token Terminal data cited in the new report showed the tokenized asset market reaching about $340 billion, led by $295.9 billion in stablecoins and $34.6 billion in tokenized funds. Holders of tokenized assets stood at 283.1 million across 47 blockchains, spanning 5,143 assets from 319 issuers, while Securitize led issuers with total real-world asset value above $5 billion. Corporate interest has widened as well: Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev has said the company’s chain is focused long term on tokenizing real-world assets, and Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said he has been watching the sector closely, arguing that faster settlement, 24/7 markets and broader access could matter even as trust remains the key hurdle.