The Bank of England has launched a new industry pilot to test how tokenized assets could be settled using synchronized, atomic settlement in pounds sterling. The initiative, known as the Synchronisation Lab, will examine how the central bank’s next-generation real-time gross settlement system can interact with external distributed-ledger platforms.
The six-month program, set to begin in spring 2026, brings together 18 participants, including banks, market infrastructure providers, fintech firms, and Web3 companies. Participants will test delivery-versus-payment and payment-versus-payment settlement in a non-live environment, without real funds, to assess interoperability between central bank money and tokenized assets.
The central bank said the pilot will help validate design choices for a potential future onchain settlement capability and inform broader modernization of UK market infrastructure. The effort aligns with global central bank experimentation as policymakers assess how tokenization and programmable settlement could reshape core financial systems.
