UK plans first G7 digital sovereign bond by early 2027
CoinDesk 2026-07-15 08:16:34
Context: The United Kingdom plans to issue its first digital sovereign bond by early 2027, making it the first G7 nation to place government debt on a distributed ledger. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves announced the timeline in her annual Mansion House speech to industry leaders. The bond will be issued on HSBC's Orion platform within the Bank of England and Financial Conduct Authority's Digital Securities Sandbox.
Key Facts
- The UK's digital sovereign bond, known as the Digital Gilt Instrument or DIGIT, will be a sterling-denominated government security issued on HSBC's Orion platform.
- The bond's issuance is part of a pilot program launched by the Treasury in 2024 to test whether blockchain infrastructure can reduce settlement times, reconciliation work, and operating costs.
- HSBC was appointed to run the platform in February, having previously issued over $3.5 billion in digital bonds through its Orion blockchain.
- The Bank of England plans to make DIGIT eligible as collateral in its market operations, enabling banks to use it in central bank funding transactions, such as tokenized repo.
- The initial sale of the digital sovereign bond will sit outside the government's conventional gilt-financing program, with further issuance planned after the initial sale.