Wall Street Titans Unite: BlackRock and JPMorgan Join UK Tokenization Working Group
The world's largest financial institutions, including BlackRock, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Morgan Stanley, and UBS, have officially joined the UK's asset tokenization working group. The initiative, supported by the UK government, brings together 54 companies to jointly develop mechanisms for the digitalization of financial instruments.
In the first phase, the group will focus on tokenized repurchase agreements (REPO). This is a logical choice: the REPO market is key for liquidity, and its digital transformation can deliver immediate impact. The work is planned for the coming year. According to the UK Treasury's estimates, by 2035, tokenized markets could generate up to £33 billion annually in additional economic output and up to £14 billion in tax revenue.
Enormous Potential, but a Modest Start
According to the published report, the UK remains the world's leading center for wholesale capital markets, processing an average of over £4 trillion in securities daily. However, tokenized assets accounted for only 0.01% of investment assets in 2025. Yet their value grew by 300% over the year — a signal that cannot be ignored.
The report's authors describe the potential of this area as immense. They estimate that the volume of tokenized real-world assets (RWA) could reach $88 trillion by 2035, far exceeding the current $3 trillion attributed to cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. Moreover, the authors warn of the danger of delay: without a clear national strategy, standards and infrastructure could develop abroad, undermining the country's role as an open global financial center.
The UK has already made significant progress. The country plans to be the first in the G7 to issue government debt securities on the blockchain — as part of the DIGIT pilot project. The authors cite speed as the main condition for success. In tokenization, the winner is the one who acts faster: such countries will capture the largest share of activity, liquidity, and the right to set standards.
Work Structure and the Role of Regulators
To achieve its goals, the group is creating nine specialized areas. The core of its work will be four of them, covering the entire transaction chain: primary issuance, secondary markets, collateral, and settlement infrastructure. A full REPO transaction — from start to finish — has been chosen as the first practical example. According to the researchers' assessment, this will serve as the foundation for scaling tokenization in secondary markets and yield the greatest efficiency gains.
The work will be led by a separate coordinating group. Its task is to ensure system interoperability and conduct cross-border tests. The report's authors also expect concrete steps from the government and regulators. These include a priority pilot issuance of DIGIT no later than the first quarter of 2027 and the readiness of the Bank of England to accept these securities as collateral.
The importance of the payment side is particularly emphasized. Without a reliable payment infrastructure, including tokenized deposits and stablecoins, large-scale tokenization simply will not work. The first real test of a REPO transaction is expected to be conducted by spring 2027.
My analysis: The unification of giants like BlackRock and JPMorgan under the auspices of the UK government is not just another pilot initiative. It is a signal that tokenization is moving from the experimental stage to the stage of institutional adoption. Choosing REPO as the first use case is strategically sound: it is a highly liquid, standardized market where the benefits of automation and reduced operational costs are most obvious. However, regulatory clarity and the willingness of central banks to accept tokenized assets will remain the key factors. If the Bank of England actually starts accepting DIGIT as collateral, it will be a tectonic shift for the entire industry.