Catenaa, Wednesday, February 18, 2026- The UK Treasury has selected HSBC Orion as the platform provider for its Digital Gilt Instrument pilot, making the country the first G7 nation to test tokenized sovereign bonds on a blockchain.
The initiative aims to explore distributed ledger technology for UK debt issuance and enhance local financial market infrastructure.
The pilot will issue digitally native, short-dated gilts on a platform within the Digital Securities Sandbox, with on-chain settlement independent of the main debt management system.
The Treasury is engaging additional suppliers to support the project’s development and ensure compliance with regulatory standards.
Economic Secretary Lucy Rigby said the program seeks to attract investment and keep the UK competitive in global capital markets by leveraging emerging blockchain solutions.
HSBC highlighted that its Orion platform has already supported over $3.5 billion in tokenized bond initiatives across Hong Kong and Luxembourg, positioning the firm as a leading provider in digital securities infrastructure.
Officials noted that issuing digital gilts and corporate bonds on a blockchain could significantly accelerate transaction settlement times while improving transparency and efficiency across debt markets.
The pilot will test both operational feasibility and market adoption, informing potential wider-scale issuance of digital government debt.
The project represents part of broader efforts in Europe to integrate digital assets into traditional finance, alongside regulatory experimentation and private sector adoption.
The Treasury emphasized that DIGIT is intended as a learning exercise, aiming to establish the UK as a hub for financial innovation while ensuring investor protections and market stability.
