A new Treasury-backed report has placed Ripple, a provider of blockchain-based payment solutions, at the center of the United Kingdom’s strategy to move wholesale financial markets onchain. The ambitious plan seeks to bring tokenized repos, fixed income products, and funds from experimental sandboxes into live trading environments within the next 12 months.
Hybrid blockchain models and settlement risks
Chris Woolard, who serves as the UK’s wholesale digital markets champion, outlined in the report a hybrid approach for blockchain adoption. This proposed model combines permissioned institutional networks built atop permissionless public blockchains, aiming to leverage the liquidity benefits of open networks while maintaining stricter compliance controls for institutional players.
The report acknowledged that while public blockchains enable greater access and shared liquidity, they also carry risks related to transaction finality. Specifically, unanticipated chain reorganizations can potentially reverse previously confirmed transactions, introducing settlement uncertainty that does not typically occur in traditional market infrastructure.
Examples such as BlackRock’s BUIDL money market fund, issued on Ethereum with a compliance layer provided by Securitize, were cited to showcase integration of traditional finance with blockchain technology.
Mini dictionary: Tokenized repo: A digital version of a repurchase agreement traded and settled using blockchain, designed to increase settlement speed and reduce operational risks in the money market.
Ripple’s growing role in UK financial innovation
Ripple has become a prominent member of the task force guiding this transformation. The firm, which specializes in blockchain-based cross-border payment technology, is described in the report as a credentialed player driving the process rather than a disruptive upstart. Its $1.25 billion acquisition of Hidden Road, now known as Ripple Prime, reflects efforts to bridge traditional financial services with digital assets. Hidden Road holds both investment firm licenses and cryptoasset registration from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), supporting a broad range of spot and derivatives trading activities in forex and digital asset markets.
Santander UK’s integration of Ripple’s blockchain tech for international payments was cited as another example of established banks adopting blockchain. Santander operates as the customer-facing institution, while Ripple’s technology underpins the movement of funds.
Ripple’s involvement with both institutional-grade licensing and real-world use cases, including its prime brokerage and cross-border payment solutions, demonstrates the convergence between traditional finance and digital asset sectors.
Regulatory developments and global comparisons
The report projects that upgrading the UK’s market infrastructure could raise the nation’s annual economic output by £33 billion ($44 billion) and boost annual tax revenues by £14 billion over the next decade, underscoring blockchain’s potential economic impact.
Woolard indicated that both the US and UK are targeting comprehensive stablecoin regulations for 2027. However, the UK is moving ahead in the wholesale space, as progress in the US has slowed due to legislative delays, such as the Clarity Act remaining stalled.
Currently, the FCA supervises crypto companies under anti-money laundering requirements. Expanded oversight is slated to begin when new rules under the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA) go into effect. The application window for registration under FSMA opens on September 30, with new regulations taking effect in October 2027.
Despite new rules, the report pointed out that the UK’s crypto company authorization process remains slower than the US. In contrast, the US Securities and Exchange Commission granted the Depository Trust Company a three-year pilot in December 2025 to run live tokenization projects immediately, rather than operating in test environments.
The report highlights that as traditional financial institutions and crypto-native firms converge, robust licensing and pragmatic regulation are becoming critical to maintaining the UK’s competitive edge in digital markets.
| Country | Regulatory focus | Key date | Regulatory body |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK | Comprehensive stablecoin and wholesale digital markets | October 2027 | FCA |
| US | Stablecoin regulation (Clarity Act stalled), tokenization pilots | December 2025 (pilot starts) | SEC |
Coming trends and industry participation
Other industry news highlighted in the same period includes BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley participating in the UK government’s tokenization taskforce, further signaling robust institutional interest in the market’s transition onto blockchain infrastructure.
Crypto exchanges also reported a resurgence in activity. Centralized exchange (CEX) trading volumes rose in June for the first time in five months, with spot trading up 15.3% to $1.11 trillion and real-world asset perpetual volumes reaching a record $311 billion.
Meanwhile, ongoing geopolitical risks continue to impact market dynamics, as renewed hostilities between the US and Iran weighed on bitcoin’s performance despite strong demand reflected in ETF inflows.
