UK Treasury report on tokenization cites Ripple as convergence model

Policy UK Treasury report on tokenization cites Ripple as convergence model A Treasury-backed report targets putting repo, gilts and funds onchain within two years, and warms to permissionless networks that firms like Ripple have been building on. By Shaurya Malwa | Edited by Sheldon Reback Jul 13, 2026, 2:06 p.m. 2 min read Make preferred on Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Make preferred on (Ripple Labs) Summary Show A U. K. Treasury-backed report on wholesale digital markets places Ripple at the center of efforts to move tokenized repo, fixed income and funds from sandbox pilots into live markets over the next 12 months. The report proposes a hybrid model that layers permissioned institutional networks on top of permissionless chains, while warning that chain reorganizations on public blockchains pose unresolved settlement-finality risks. Ripple’s acquisition of prime broker Hidden Road and Santander UK’s white-label use of Ripple’s rails are cited as evidence of convergence between traditional finance and crypto. Ripple, a provider of blockchain-based digital payments, secured a seat at the center of the U.K.'s push to move wholesale markets onchain, being named in a Treasury-backed report as one of the credentialed firms the plan leans on rather than a crypto entrant to be managed. The report from Chris Woolard, the Treasury's wholesale digital markets champion, lays out a 12-month plan to move tokenized repo, fixed income and funds from sandbox to live markets, positioning the effort as a race the U.K. loses if standards and liquidity settle offshore first. Ripple is part of a task force driving the process, which, Woolard said in the report, could provide a sizable economic benefit to the country. Productivity gains and cost efficiencies could boost annual economic output by 33 billion pounds ($44 billion) and increase the tax take by 14 billion pounds a year within a decade. Woolard's team proposed a hybrid model of permissionless networks providing common liquidity with permissioned institutional networks built on top. The report cited BlackRock's tokenized money market fund BUIDL, issued on Ethereum with a Securitize compliance wrapper, as an example. The report also noted a problem with permissionless chains: a confirmed transaction can, in theory, be reversed by a chain reorganization. That introduces a settlement-finality risk that traditional infrastructures do not encounter. Nevertheless, the report said, established firms in traditional finance and crypto-native companies are converging. As one example, it cited Ripple's $1.25 billion purchase of prime broker Hidden Road . Hidden Road, now Ripple Prime, is listed among firms holding both an investment-firm license and cryptoasset registration covering spot and derivatives across forex and digital asset markets from the Financial Conduct Authority. Santander U.K.'s use of Ripple's blockchain for cross-border payments was named as a white-labeling example. The bank fronts the customer relationship while Ripple's technology moves the money. Woolard puts the U.S. and U.K. markets on similar timelines for stablecoin regulation, with both targeting full regimes in 2027. For wholesale policy, the U.K. is ahead of the U.S., where the Clarity Act remains stuck. While the FCA is already authorizing crypto companies under money-laundering regulations, the regulator's new regime under the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA) kicks in next year. Applications under FSMA open on Sept. 30, ahead of an October 2027 launch date. The report concedes that the industry still sees U.K. authorization as slower than the U.S., where the SEC's December 2025 no-action letter handed the Depository Trust Company a three-year tokenization pilot that lets firms launch live rather than build for a test environment. 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