UK Tokenization Task Force Joins Goldman and BlackRock
The UK government has launched a tokenization task force bringing together 54 global financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and BlackRock. The initiative targets live tokenized asset pilots and marks a major step in RWA adoption.
Yuri Konnov
Over the next 12 months, the 54-firm group will develop live end-to-end tokenization use cases, with tokenized repurchase agreement (repo) transactions as the first priority. The taskforce will organize into nine action groups addressing primary issuance, tokenized collateral, tokenized funds, payment rails, legal and regulatory certainty, interoperability standards, and financial crime compliance, among other areas. According to the City of London Corporation announcement, the UK has already conducted a series of pilots and small-scale commercial trials, but the pace of international competition requires acceleration to secure the country's role in shaping the next generation of global market infrastructure.
The economic case underpinning the initiative is substantial. The inaugural report estimates that tokenization could add up to £33 billion ($44.08 billion) to the UK's annual economic output and generate £14 billion in additional annual tax revenue by 2035. Coinpaper's coverage of the report also noted that the UK processes more than £4 trillion in securities transactions each day on average, providing the scale against which even incremental tokenization gains would carry material impact. Tokenized assets represented only 0.01% of total investment assets in 2025, though their value increased by approximately 300% over the course of that year, according to Coinpaper's analysis of the market context.
CoinDesk reported that the HM Treasury initiative, which includes over 50 financial firms, reflects a deliberate push to integrate tokenization technology with wholesale financial markets rather than treat it as a peripheral experiment. The CoinDesk coverage confirmed that the 54-firm group will spend the next year working on live tokenization use cases across UK financial markets, with the City of London Corporation providing institutional backing. Blockhead's reporting added that the taskforce's nine action groups will address tax neutrality and resilience alongside the more widely cited workstreams.
The announcement does not specify which of the 54 firms will lead individual action groups, nor does it disclose the governance structure for resolving disagreements among participants with competing commercial interests. The taskforce has not published a budget, identified a specific regulatory sandbox or approval pathway for the tokenized repo pilot, or confirmed which counterparties will execute the first live transaction. The terms of reference do not establish binding commitments on any participating firm — participation is voluntary and the Champion role itself is unpaid.
What the 13 July announcement concretely establishes is a named, 54-firm institutional coalition with a defined 12-month work programme, a government-appointed champion with a mandate running through late 2027, and a stated first deliverable in tokenized repo. It does not establish a live tokenized product, a completed transaction, a regulatory approval, or a confirmed timeline for any individual firm's commercial deployment within the programme.
