Britain says it'll beat the G7 to a blockchain bond

Reeves puts a date on DIGIT

Chancellor @RachelReevesMP used her annual Mansion House speech to confirm that Britain will issue the Digital Gilt Instrument, known as DIGIT, by early 2027. The move would make the UK the first of the seven leading industrialised nations to place government debt on a distributed-ledger infrastructure. Reeves added that further issuances are planned if the pilot performs as expected.

DIGIT will be a sterling-denominated government security issued on HSBC's Orion platform and will operate inside the Bank of England and Financial Conduct Authority's Digital Securities Sandbox. The Treasury announced the pilot in 2024 to test whether blockchain infrastructure could reduce settlement times, reconciliation work and operating costs. HSBC was appointed to run the platform in February, having issued over $3.5 billion in digital bonds through its Orion blockchain.

The instrument will sit outside the government's core debt management programme, allowing policymakers to gather real-world operational evidence without disrupting the broader gilt market. DIGIT will be digitally native, meaning it originates directly on a permissioned blockchain rather than as a tokenised replica of a conventional security.

Bailey's collateral move changes the stakes

Speaking at the same event, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said the central bank will work to make DIGIT eligible as collateral in its market operations, a step that could support tokenized repo and allow banks to use the bond in central bank funding transactions. That commitment matters because it would embed blockchain-settled debt directly into the plumbing of sterling wholesale markets, rather than keeping it confined to a standalone pilot.

The Treasury has not disclosed the bond's size, maturity, coupon, investor eligibility or settlement asset. Participation is currently expected to be restricted to approved institutional participants, including banks and gilt-edged market makers operating within the sandbox.

There is also a political asterisk. Reeves framed much of the Mansion House speech as a pitch to the next administration, and there is no guarantee she will still be Chancellor when DIGIT actually ships. Whether her successor maintains the same urgency around the timeline remains to be seen.

Sources:
CoinDesk: UK Plans First G7 Digital Sovereign Bond by Early 2027
Global Government Finance: HM Treasury picks HSBC to provide platform for UK Gov's first blockchain bond issuance
Coindoo: UK Targets Live Tokenized Repo Trial in 2027