UK Banks Complete Tokenized Deposit Payments, QNT Jumps 39%
Seven UK lenders including Barclays, HSBC and Lloyds made the first live interbank tokenised deposit payments on Quant's ledger. QNT rose about 39% on the news.
Britain's biggest banks have moved tokenised money out of the test lab and started passing it between each other. Seven lenders, Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Monzo, Nationwide, NatWest and Santander, say they have completed the world's first live interbank payments using tokenised deposits.
The transactions ran under the Great British Tokenised Deposit initiative, and the ledger infrastructure behind it was built by Quant.
The two payments the banks tested
Instead of complex trades, the banks picked ordinary, everyday use cases:
- a remortgage payment passed from one bank to another;
- a consumer purchase made on an online marketplace.
What sets this pilot apart is the number of banks involved. When Lloyds bought a gilt using its own tokenised deposits in an earlier trial, the money never left Lloyds. This time, regulated bank money moved in tokenised form across several institutions. In the background, the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority are preparing the UK financial system for tokenisation and for longer settlement hours.
Economic Secretary to the Treasury Lucy Rigby said: “These live transactions show how tokenised deposits can deliver practical, real-world benefits.”
Tokenised deposit or stablecoin?
The two are easy to mix up. A tokenised deposit is simply the money in your bank account, a normal bank liability, recorded on a blockchain-style ledger instead of a traditional database. Because it is still a deposit, the usual deposit protection applies.
A stablecoin is a different animal. A separate company issues it and backs it with a reserve of assets, so holders depend on that issuer rather than on a bank. For the UK banks, the next step is to try settling digital assets with tokenised customer money.
QNT's 39% jump needs a careful read
Traders reacted quickly. Quant's QNT token rose roughly 39% to close to $100 after the announcement. But a bank pilot that runs on Quant's technology does not, on its own, create demand for the token. Using a company's software is not the same as buying its coin, so be wary of chasing a spike driven by headlines. Indian traders should also remember that profits on QNT are taxed at 30%, with 1% TDS on transfers.
The India angle
India is working towards a similar goal by a different route. The RBI is building out the e-rupee and running unified-ledger pilots, so tokenised bank money is more likely to reach Indian users through RBI-led projects than through private stablecoins.
FAQ
What is a tokenized deposit?
It is ordinary bank money recorded on a blockchain-style ledger. It remains a bank liability and keeps normal deposit protection.
Why did QNT price rise?
QNT climbed about 39% after the news because Quant built the ledger infrastructure for the UK banks' Great British Tokenised Deposit pilot.
This article is AI-assisted, educational and general in nature. It is not financial advice and never a guarantee of profit. Every trade is at your own risk on your own exchange. See our risk disclosure and editorial policy.
