The United Kingdom’s government has appointed HSBC’s tokenization platform to power a pilot issuance of digital government bonds, known as “gilts,” marking the latest step in its push to modernize sovereign debt markets using blockchain technology.
HM Treasury has appointed HSBC Orion to facilitate the Digital Gilt Instrument (DIGIT) pilot issuance, according to a Thursday announcement.
The Treasury published a DIGIT pilot update in July 2025, outlining plans to explore blockchain applications in UK sovereign debt issuance and to support the development of domestic tokenization infrastructure.
“We want to attract investment and make the UK the best place to do business,” said Lucy Rigby, UK Economic Secretary to the Treasury, commenting on HSBC Orion’s DIGIT appointment. She added that the pilot will help the UK explore how to capitalize on distributed ledger technology (DLT), enhance efficiency and reduce costs for businesses.
Key objectives and features of the DIGIT pilot
The DIGIT pilot aims to enable digitally native, short-dated government bonds operating within the Digital Securities Sandbox (DSS).
The pilot is designed to support secondary market development and broader accessibility, with onchain settlement, while operating independently of the UK government’s main debt management program.
“This is exactly the kind of financial innovation we need to keep the UK at the forefront of global capital markets and I’m looking forward to working with HSBC and other parties to deliver DIGIT,” Rigby said.
HSBC has issued $3.5 billion in digital bonds globally
Since its launch in 2023, HSBC Orion has enabled the issuance of at least $3.5 billion in digitally native bonds globally, including the European Investment Bank’s first digital sterling bond and a multi-currency $1.3 billion-equivalent bond issued by the Hong Kong government.
“The UK is a home market for us and the sixth largest economy in the world,” said Patrick George, HSBC’s global head of markets and securities services. “HSBC is delighted to be supporting the continued development of the gilt market, market innovation, and the growth of the broader UK economy,” he added.
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Alongside appointing HSBC Orion as the platform provider for DIGIT, the UK government also appointed global law firm Ashurst to provide legal services for the pilot.
“Our team brings deep expertise in digital assets transactions, and we look forward to working with HSBC and supporting the government as it takes this transformative step for UK capital markets,” Ashurst’s head of digital assets, Etay Katz, said.
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