UK plans near 24 hour tokenized settlement

TLDR

UK regulators are planning to run their core settlement systems nearly around the clock to support tokenized assets and digital money in wholesale markets.

1. The Bank of England and FCA propose extending RTGS and CHAPS toward near 24/7 operation, with staged upgrades through 2027 to 2031 to support tokenized settlement.
2. This sits inside a wider shared vision for tokenization, including a Digital Securities Sandbox, tokenized funds rules, and work on stablecoin and tokenized deposit regulation.
3. For crypto users, the key signals to watch are the consultation outcomes, sandbox graduates, and how fast banks adopt tokenized collateral and stablecoin rails.

Deep Dive

1. What Near 24 Hour Settlement Means

The Bank of England has proposed extending operating hours for its Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and CHAPS systems toward near 24/7 availability to prepare markets for tokenized finance and cross border payments as usage grows. This includes adding weekend and extended daily hours so high value payments and securities settlement can happen far beyond current UK banking hours, as described in the BoE and FCA consultation coverage.

Details emerging from UK press summaries suggest a phased path: weekday operations extended to 1:30 am from September 2027, Sunday and holiday settlement enabled before 2029, and a 22 hour daily window targeted by 2031. These changes are explicitly framed as infrastructure for new tokenization based payment and settlement models.

2. Tokenization, Sandbox, And Stablecoins

Alongside the hours extension, the FCA and Bank of England have set out a joint shared vision for tokenization in wholesale markets, covering prudential treatment, tokenized collateral, and settlement instruments, and have launched a Call for Input to shape the roadmap. Coverage of the plan highlights that regulators see tokenization as capable of reshaping how assets are issued, traded and settled, and are now pushing to move from pilots to production in a coordinated way.

Sixteen firms are already testing issuance and settlement of tokenized securities in the UK Digital Securities Sandbox, while the Bank plans a live synchronisation service by 2028 to support using tokenized versions of eligible assets as collateral at central counterparties and in central bank operations. In parallel, the FCA has allowed blockchain records to serve as a primary ledger for tokenized funds, and UK authorities are working toward a unified framework for stablecoins and tokenized deposits under payments regulation.

3. Why Crypto Users Should Care And What To Watch

For crypto markets, this is less about retail trading today and more about where institutional flows may route in a few years. Near continuous RTGS and CHAPS, combined with tokenized gilts, tokenized collateral, and regulated stablecoins, could make London a major hub for onchain settlement of traditional assets that interoperate with public chain stablecoins and tokenized RWAs.

Key milestones to watch include: outcomes of the BoE and FCA consultations on tokenization and settlement hours, which will clarify the firm timelines and technical requirements; the first large scale issuances and settlements coming out of the Digital Securities Sandbox; and the final FCA regime for stablecoins and crypto markets, currently targeted for full implementation around 2027 according to multiple reports.

Conclusion

The UK is not just talking about tokenization but redesigning its core payment and settlement infrastructure so tokenized securities, collateral, and regulated stablecoins can operate nearly around the clock. For crypto users, the opportunity is in the bridge: platforms that connect public chain assets and stablecoins into these emerging near 24 hour institutional rails are likely to be central to how traditional and crypto markets converge.