Quant Unveils Game-Changing UK Tokenised Deposit Infrastructure – Banking’s Blockchain Revolution Begins

London’s financial dinosaurs just got a crypto wake-up call.

Quant—the blockchain interoperability pioneer—has dropped the blueprint for a UK-wide tokenised deposit system, effectively dragging legacy banks into the 21st century. This isn’t theoretical fintech fluff; it’s live infrastructure ready to bypass SWIFT-era bottlenecks.

The Nuts and Bolts

Built on Quant’s Overledger network, the framework lets banks issue deposit tokens as programmable assets—think instant settlements, 24/7 liquidity, and compliance baked into smart contracts. No more waiting three days for a wire to clear while paying fees that belong in a Dickens novel.

Why It Matters

The Bank of England’s sandbox gave the green light, but here’s the kicker: adoption hinges on whether high-street banks can stomach decentralisation. Spoiler—they’ll fight it until clients defect to crypto-native alternatives.

Closing Thought

Another ‘innovation’ that’ll take UK banks a decade to implement—just in time for everyone else to move on to quantum-resistant ledgers.

Quant has been selected by UK Finance and a consortium of leading commercial banks to provide the technology underpinning the UK’s new  project, a groundbreaking financial market infrastructure initiative running until mid-2026.

The initiative, led by UK Finance in collaboration with Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest, Nationwide and Santander, will test how tokenised commercial bank deposits can improve payments, settlement, and fraud protection across the economy. Supporting firms include Quant, EY and Linklaters.

Building on its successful delivery in the first phase of the Regulated Liability Network (RLN) in 2024, Quant will provide the programmable money infrastructure for live transactions of tokenised deposits. This includes advanced programmable payments and interoperability across bank ledgers, RTGS, Faster Payments, Open Banking and tokenised deposit platforms.

Tokenised deposits are a digital representation of sterling commercial bank money. They retain the trust and regulatory protections of conventional deposits, while offering programmability, enhanced speed, and stronger fraud protection.

Three transformative use cases will be tested:

• Online marketplace payments – programmable payments designed to reduce fraud and boost confidence between buyers and sellers.
• Remortgaging processes – streamlining property transactions, improving transparency and mitigating conveyancing fraud.
• Wholesale bond settlement – accelerating clearing and settlement of digital assets through instant delivery-versus-payment (DvP) with a single pool of liquidity.

The project aims to demonstrate tangible benefits for consumers, businesses, and the wider UK economy.

“Being selected for GBTD marks a pivotal step in the UK’s financial evolution. This milestone goes beyond improving payments – it’s about enabling new forms of programmable money that will fundamentally transform how value is moved and managed. Our involvement underscores Quant’s leadership in digital finance, as we work alongside the UK’s leading institutions to build the infrastructure powering tomorrow’s economy.”

“This project is a powerful example of industry collaboration to deliver next-generation payments for the benefit of customers and businesses – and an opportunity for the UK to lead globally in setting standards for tokenised money.”

The same technology driving Quant’s proprietary PayScript® engine and Overledger technologies will FORM the foundation of the GBTD platform, which will be built with compliance with ISO 20022 international standards to provide a secure, interoperable and scalable solution designed for regulated financial environments.

Source: Quant