The UK tokenisation standards gap is now formally on regulators’ desks, after the FIX Trading Community warned that fragmented data, inconsistent workflows and absent encryption standards could derail what it calls already compelling business cases for tokenised assets. The warning came in FIX’s response to a joint call for input published by the Bank of England (BoE) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on 18 May 2026.
For ISA and SIPP holders watching the rise of tokenised equities on platforms such as Robinhood and eToro, the industry debate matters more than it might first appear.
The UK Tokenisation Standards Gap FIX Is Trying to Close
Tokenised assets are conventional securities such as shares or bonds recorded on a blockchain (a shared digital ledger) rather than in a traditional central register. The appeal is faster settlement, around-the-clock trading and more efficient collateral management, where assets pledged as security against loans or trades can be moved quickly.
Jim Kaye, Executive Director at the FIX Trading Community, said the main barrier to adoption is not the technology itself. ‘The business cases for tokenisation are both compelling and well advanced,’ he said, particularly in post-trade processing and collateral management. The problem, he argued, is the ‘lack of common data standards’ across the industry.
FIX’s submission identifies concrete gaps. There are no agreed standards for settlement instructions on digital assets, no common taxonomy for corporate actions and coupon payments, and no shared framework for wallet addressing, which links digital wallets to identifiable legal entities. Chain-to-chain connectivity, meaning the ability for assets to move between different blockchains, is also unresolved. Perhaps most sharply, FIX said there is no agreed encryption standard for digital asset transactions, creating potential exposure of customer data.
FIX has published guidance on using its protocol for tokenised assets, including a joint white paper with the Global Digital Finance community setting out how interoperability between the FIX ecosystem and the FinP2P tokenisation protocol could support the full lifecycle of a tokenised asset from issuance through to settlement and custody. It also released Recommended Practices for Digital Asset Trading in 2022. Kaye said the next step would require genuine input from both industry and regulators. ‘Collaboration on this issue is absolutely fundamental,’ he said.
What the FCA and BoE Are Actually Consulting On
The regulators are not acting in isolation. The FCA’s call for input invites industry responses by 3 July 2026, after which the FCA and BoE aim to publish a joint response and a cross-authority roadmap later in 2026. According to Mayer Brown’s analysis, the consultation proposes an end state in which tokenised securities, cash and collateral move more efficiently across the trade lifecycle, anchored in central bank money.
The consultation sits within a broader package of regulatory action. The initiative follows the UK Government’s Wholesale Financial Markets Digital Strategy, published in July 2025. Alongside the FCA/BoE paper, the BoE published a separate consultation on extending RTGS and CHAPS settlement hours towards near 24/7 operation, including weekend hours, subject to industry readiness. The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) also issued Dear CEO letters to firms, covering the prudential treatment of tokenised asset exposures and guidance on stablecoins and e-money.
For retail investors, the PRA guidance on stablecoins matters: stablecoins are digital tokens pegged to a fiat currency, and they are the form of digital cash most likely to sit alongside tokenised equities in a retail trading account.
Retail Platforms Are Already Moving
The standards debate is not theoretical. Robinhood has already launched more than 200 tokenised stocks for European customers. eToro has announced plans to tokenise US-listed equities, initially targeting 100 of its most popular stocks, structured as ERC20 tokens on the Ethereum blockchain and enabling 24/7 trading and transfers between eToro digital wallets, according to Bloomberg. Access is initially available to European users on a wait-list basis.
eToro’s move has a longer history behind it. CEO Yoni Assia co-authored what became known as the Coloured Coins whitepaper in 2012, an early framework for representing real-world assets on a blockchain. In 2019, eToro acquired Danish tokenisation firm Firmo and launched tokenised gold (GOLDX) and silver (SLVX), as noted on the eToro newsroom. Assia described the current equities plan as part of the company’s ‘journey towards a tokenized future.’
The ambition may go further still. Fortune reported that Assia said eToro is evaluating whether to build its own blockchain infrastructure, stating: ‘We’re now evaluating a couple of potential partnerships with both layer 1s and layer 2,’ and that eToro ‘might launch basically a side chain of eToro.’
CMC Markets has also tested a tokenised share transaction in the UK, and firms including Murex, Quant, SBI Holdings and Startale have been working on settlement and interoperability. The World Federation of Exchanges has raised separate questions around ownership, custody and market integrity.
The UK tokenisation standards gap will be filled either by coordinated industry action or by regulatory mandate. With the FCA’s consultation window closing on 3 July 2026, the shape of that roadmap should become clearer before the end of the year.
