Bank of England launches onchain settlement pilot

The Bank of England has launched the Synchronisation Lab to explore how tokenized assets could be settled using synchronized, atomic settlement in sterling as part of modernizing its real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system. Eighteen companies will test delivery-versus-payment and payment-versus-payment settlement between the BoE’s next-generation RTGS core ledger, RT2, and external distributed-ledger platforms in a non-live environment without using real money.

The six-month pilot, due to start in spring 2026, aims to validate design choices for synchronized settlement, assess interoperability between central bank money and tokenized assets, and inform the development of a potential live RTGS synchronization capability.

The initiative was originally announced in October. Participants include market infrastructure providers, banks, fintechs and decentralized-technology firms.

United Kingdom

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