UK Regulator Aims Toward Near-24/7 Settlement for Tokenized Markets

The Bank of England (BoE), in a coordinated push with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), proposed extending the operating hours of the UK’s core settlement infrastructure toward near-24/7 availability. The initiative forms part of a broader drive to prepare UK wholesale markets for tokenized finance, recognizing that digital representations of value could reshape settlement and cross-border payments as tokenization technologies mature.

The consultation paper seeks to add weekend and longer daily hours to the BoE’s settlement rails—the Real-Time Gross Settlement system (RTGS) and the Clearing House Automated Payment System (CHAPS). Officials argue that expanded operating times would better support new payment and settlement models while enabling smoother cross-border flows as tokenized assets become more prevalent in wholesale markets. The joint BoE-FCA note accompanying the consultation emphasizes that the changes are designed to align with ongoing tokenization developments and the evolution of settlement architecture in the UK.

Public feedback is invited through July 3, with a formal summary of responses expected to follow in the summer. The policy discussion takes place as the FCA has signaled a broader, technology-forward stance on tokenization, a stance reflected in a contemporaneous communication on tokenized finance. The authorities argue that such developments could improve efficiency and broaden access to capital markets, while also raising questions for risk management, compliance, and regulatory oversight.

As part of the reinforcing narrative, industry voices have welcomed a clear UK vision for tokenization in wholesale markets. According to Cointelegraph, Katie Harries, head of policy for Europe at Coinbase, commented: “Fantastic to see the UK setting out a clear vision for tokenization in wholesale markets. The opportunity is huge — not only for companies seeking new pools of capital, but for the ‘unbrokered’: the many individuals globally who are not able to participate in capital markets today.”

Key takeaways

• The Bank of England proposes near-24/7 operating hours for RTGS and CHAPS to support tokenized settlement and cross-border payments.
• The plan is framed as a response to tokenization developments and to enable new payment and settlement models in wholesale markets.
• The BoE-FCA consultation runs until July 3, with a summer feedback statement anticipated.
• The initiative is complemented by subsequent regulatory work, including PRA guidance on tokenized instruments and a long-term framework planned for 2028.
• The FCA is advancing a broader crypto regulatory regime, with a separate consultation focusing on stablecoins, custody, trading and staking, targeting full implementation by around late 2027.

Tokenization and wholesale market architecture: regulatory context and implications

The BoE’s extension proposal sits within a broader UK policy trajectory that seeks to harmonize traditional settlement infrastructure with tokenized financial instruments. By expanding the hours of RTGS and CHAPS, the BoE aims to reduce settlement latency and improve resilience for cross-border flows as tokenized assets become more common in institutional portfolios. The accompanying FCA letter frames tokenization as a driver of efficiency and innovation across the asset management and wholesale markets, signaling a joint regulatory intent to maintain safety and integrity while enabling new business models.

From a regulatory standpoint, the move underscores how central banks are balancing operational readiness with risk controls in a tokenized environment. As tokenization enables a wider class of participants and potentially different settlement mechanics, authorities must ensure that risk governance, liquidity management, cyber risk, and operational continuity remain robust across extended hours. The consultation is intended to surface practical considerations—such as settlement finality, intraday liquidity facilities, and the interoperability of tokenized rails with existing legal frameworks—before any implementation steps are taken.

In parallel, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) signaled its own contribution to the tokenization discourse. The PRA’s updated guidance proposes that tokenized financial instruments should, where legal rights and risks are comparable, receive the same regulatory treatment as traditional instruments. The publication positions this updated stance as interim guidance until a broader prudential framework is developed, in response to the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision’s targeted review of crypto asset exposure standards. The PRA indicated that a longer-term framework would be presented in 2028 at the earliest, reflecting a measured, risk-aware path to integrating tokenized assets into the UK banking system.

These developments occur against the backdrop of ongoing international and regional policy evolution. The Basel Committee’s review of crypto asset exposure standards remains a pivotal reference point for prudential treatment, while the UK’s approach continues to align with a wider regulatory architecture that includes EU discussions on tokenized finance and, in Europe, MiCA preparations. The FCA’s own regulatory reform agenda—focused on stablecoins, trading, custody and staking—seeks to complete its regime by around October 2027, signaling a multi-year, multi-agency effort to codify tokenized finance within established regulatory boundaries.

Under the current UK framework, the FCA remains the primary regulator for crypto activities, with the Bank of England overseeing the core settlement infrastructure to reduce systemic risk and ensure market integrity. The FCA’s crypto regime consultation published on April 30 examines how to regulate issuance, trading, custody and staking of crypto assets and is geared toward a full rollout within the 2027–2028 horizon. This regulatory cadence—comprising central-bank operational changes, prudential guidance, and targeted crypto regulation—reflects a deliberate strategy to balance innovation with risk management as markets transition to tokenized forms of value.

Taken together, the BoE-FCA consultation, PRA guidance, and the FCA regime rollout illustrate a coordinated regulatory push to modernize market infrastructure in a way that accommodates tokenized instruments while reinforcing supervisory safeguards. The approach emphasizes licensing clarity, cross-border interoperability, and enhanced oversight for participants operating within tokenized markets, including banks, payment service providers, asset managers, and crypto-native firms seeking regulated access to wholesale market utilities.

Institutional and compliance implications

For banks and liquidity providers, extended settlement hours could reshape liquidity planning, intraday credit arrangements, and collateral management needs. The design of near-continuous settlement windows must consider the operational readiness of counterparties, the availability of settlement accounts, and the synchronization of risk controls with extended hours. For exchanges, brokers and custodians, tokenization introduces questions about custody standards, rights transfer, and the legal enforceability of digital asset representations within traditional settlement rails. The ongoing policy work seeks to establish a clear interface between legacy settlement architecture and tokenized instruments, reducing legal ambiguity and supporting compliant onboarding of new participants.

Asset managers and institutional investors stand to gain from improved settlement efficiency and broader access to tokenized pools of capital, provided that regulatory safeguards remain effective. The FCA’s forthcoming regime and the PRA’s prudential framework aim to ensure that tokenized assets can be integrated without compromising financial stability or investor protections. At the same time, cross-border considerations persist, with UK authorities monitoring alignment with international standards and with EU frameworks under MiCA-like reforms, ensuring that the UK remains robustly connected to global markets.

From a risk perspective, authorities stress the importance of maintaining robust AML/KYC controls, cyber resilience, and operational risk governance as hours lengthen and settlement paradigms evolve. The consultation process is designed to surface these risk factors, enabling policy makers to calibrate the design of extended settlement hours with appropriate supervisory expectations and technical safeguards.

Regulatory trajectory and what to watch next

Looking ahead, the BoE-FCA consultation will inform whether near-20s or near-24/7 settlement windows become a permanent feature of UK wholesale markets, and how such a shift would be codified within the existing regulatory structure. The PRA’s anticipated long-term framework in 2028 will likely reflect insights from the Basel Committee’s review, as well as practical observations from the UK’s tokenization experiments and market participation data. The FCA’s comprehensive crypto regime, with its stability and consumer protections agenda, will also shape how tokenized assets are issued, traded, and safeguarded in regulated contexts.

For market participants, the broader policy environment implies a careful, sustained compliance program: mapping tokenized instrument structures to existing legal rights, ensuring custody arrangements meet regulatory expectations, and maintaining clear lines of reporting and risk governance to regulators. Institutions should watch for how these developments affect licensing requirements, cross-border operations, and the degree of interoperability between UK settlement rails and international systems.

As the policy timetable unfolds, stakeholders should anticipate continued feedback solicitations, publication of summaries of responses, and further regulatory guidance. The UK’s tokenization agenda represents a deliberate alignment of market architecture with evolving digital finance constructs, rather than a sudden regulatory overhaul.

Closing perspective: the UK’s coordinated move—extending settlement hours, clarifying prudential treatment of tokenized assets, and advancing a crypto-regulatory regime—signals a deliberate, risk-informed path toward tokenized wholesale markets. Observers will be attentive to the pace of implementation, the specificity of operational safeguards, and the ultimate balance between innovation and resilience in a tokenized financial system.

This article was originally published as UK Regulator Aims Toward Near-24/7 Settlement for Tokenized Markets on Crypto Breaking News – your trusted source for crypto news, Bitcoin news, and blockchain updates.