BlackRock, JPMorgan, and Wall Street giants join forces to tokenize assets in the UK
The world's largest financial institutions, including BlackRock, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and HSBC, have joined a new working group established with the support of the British government. This initiative, bringing together 54 companies, aims at large-scale asset digitalization and testing tokenization mechanisms. This is not just another pilot project—it is a consolidated effort by leading players and the state to lay the foundations for the future global market.
Focus on REPO Transactions and Strategic Horizon
In the first phase, the group will focus on tokenized REPO transactions (repurchase agreements). According to UK Treasury estimates, by 2035, tokenized markets could generate up to £33 billion annually in additional value for the British economy and produce up to £14 billion in tax revenue. These are ambitious but entirely realistic figures, given the current development trajectory.
Currently, tokenized assets account for only 0.01% of all investment assets worldwide, yet their value has grown by 300% over the past year. The market volume for real-world assets (RWA) is projected to reach $88 trillion by 2035, far exceeding the current $3 trillion attributed to cryptocurrencies and stablecoins.
Why Speed is the Key Success Factor
The report's authors emphasize that in the tokenization race, the winner is the one who acts faster. Without a clear national strategy and standards, infrastructure and liquidity will move abroad, undermining London's position as a global financial center. The UK already plans to become the first G7 country to issue government debt securities on the blockchain as part of the DIGIT pilot project.
The working group is creating nine specialized areas, four of which will form the core: primary issuance, secondary markets, collateral, and settlement infrastructure. The first practical case will be an end-to-end REPO transaction—from start to finish. In my opinion, this will serve as a catalyst for scaling tokenization in secondary markets and deliver the greatest efficiency gains.
Role of Regulators and Payment Infrastructure
Concrete steps are expected from the government and the Bank of England: a priority pilot issuance of DIGIT no later than the first quarter of 2027, and the regulator's readiness to accept these securities as collateral. The importance of the payment side is particularly emphasized—without reliable infrastructure, including tokenized deposits and stablecoins, large-scale tokenization simply will not work.
My analysis: The creation of such a group is not just a bureaucratic formality but a clear signal to the market. The consolidation of giants like BlackRock and JPMorgan under the auspices of the state means that tokenization is moving from the experimental stage to industrial implementation. The first real test of a REPO transaction is scheduled for spring 2027. Investors and market participants should closely monitor this process—it could fundamentally change the structure of global finance.