Key Takeaways
- The Bank of England is exploring blockchain interoperability for its national settlement system.
- I will launch a new lab to pursue the concept in 2026.
- With synchronization, central bank money could be used to trigger actions on-chain and vice versa.
The Bank of England (BoE) is preparing to embed blockchain interoperability into the U.K.’s national payments infrastructure.
As part of its roadmap for the interbank settlement system known as RT2, the central bank said it intends to deliver multi-platform “synchronization” as soon as possible.
Upgrading the U.K.’s Payment Infrastructure
Officially launched in April this year, RT2 underpins the U.K.’s bank transfer rails: Faster Payments, CHAPS, and Bacs.
Previously, real-time gross settlement (RTGS) in the U.K. was restricted to business hours and relied on legacy messaging standards that inhibited interoperability.
The upgraded RTGS system is theoretically capable of supporting 24/7 settlement, while the adoption of ISO 20022 messaging enables more seamless cross-border payment flows.
At the consumer level, Brits have been used to 24/7 instant bank transfers for years. But round-the-clock rails like Faster Payments clashed with the reality of wholesale settlement, which was confined by the old RTGS hours.
The new system aligns with an emerging international standard, while the adoption of ISO 20022 further enhances global interoperability.
However, the BoE isn’t just targeting interoperability with other fiat settlement systems. Blockchain transactions are also in its line of sight.
Blockchain Synchronization
The central bank favors the term “synchronization” and said it plans to open a “synchronization lab” in 2026 to explore real-world use cases. “Dependent on the success of this, we intend to deliver synchronization into production as soon as we can,” it stated.
The ultimate goal appears to be utilizing central bank money to settle tokenized asset transactions. In such a system, on-chain payments would map directly onto the BoE’s ledger, eliminating the need for stablecoins or intermediaries.
For banks, payment companies, and e-money institutions, this could be a major driver of blockchain adoption. After all, in the institutional hierarchy of money, nothing beats central bank liability.
James Morales is CCN’s blockchain and crypto policy reporter. He has been working in the news media since 2020, writing about topics such as payments, banking and financial technology. These days, he likes to explore the latest blockchain innovations and the evolving landscape of global crypto regulation.
With an educational background in social anthropology and media studies, James uses his platform as a journalist to explore how new technologies work, why they matter and how they might shape our future.
