What are the common challenges startups face in equity tokenisation?

The most common challenges include navigating FCA regulatory requirements, selecting the right tokenisation platform, structuring the legal framework for tokenised equity, educating investors unfamiliar with digital securities, and ensuring compliance with the UK Digital Securities Sandbox rules.

What are tokenisation platforms and how do they work?

Tokenisation platforms are regulated technology providers that convert equity or other assets into digital tokens on a blockchain or distributed ledger. In the UK, platforms operating under FCA oversight include those participating in the Digital Securities Sandbox. They handle the technical issuance, custody, and transfer of tokenised securities.

What financial insights should founders know before tokenising equity?

Founders should understand the cost structure of tokenisation (legal, platform, and compliance fees), the valuation implications of fractional ownership, how tokenised equity differs from traditional equity crowdfunding, and the tax treatment of digital securities under UK law.

What investor strategies apply to tokenised equity?

Investors in tokenised equity can benefit from fractional ownership of high-value assets, improved liquidity through secondary market trading on regulated platforms, portfolio diversification across early-stage UK startups, and participation in deals previously accessible only to institutional investors.

What is the UK regulatory landscape for equity tokenisation?

The UK regulatory landscape is governed primarily by the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) and HM Treasury. Key frameworks include the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, the Digital Securities Sandbox (DSS), and ongoing FCA consultations on the treatment of tokenised securities. The UK is positioning itself as a global leader in regulated digital securities.

What is equity tokenisation?

Equity tokenisation is the process of converting ownership rights in a company into digital tokens recorded on a blockchain or distributed ledger. These tokens represent shares or equity stakes and can be transferred, traded, or held digitally, subject to regulatory compliance. In the UK, tokenised equity is treated as a regulated financial instrument under FCA oversight.

Digital Securities for UK Startups

Latest Headline

Tokenization Unfiltered: Making Sense of a Financial System Being Rebuilt in Front of Us

Over the past year at TokenisingStartups, we have watched tokenisation move from something that could still be dismissed as an interesting experiment into an increasingly serious part of the financial infrastructure conversation. Banks are issuing tokenised bonds and exploring tokenised deposits. Asset managers are putting funds on-chain. Exchanges are developing tokenised securities infrastructure. Regulators are creating new frameworks for digital assets. And in the UK, PIS

RWA & TOKENISATION

Shawn Jhanji

Aug 184 min read

Tokenization Unfiltered: Making Sense of a Financial System Being Rebuilt in Front of Us

RWA & TOKENISATION

Asset manager Bitwise has launched a set of automated portfolios built on Coinbase's tokenised US stocks, letting eligible non-US investors follow preset investment strategies while keeping their tokens in their own wallets rather than handing custody to a fund manager. The product, called Automated Token Portfolios, allows users to automatically replicate and rebalance professionally designed baskets of Coinbase's tokenised shares. Bitwise sets the portfolio methodology; execution and rebalancing are handled by Glider. Because the underlying tokens never leave the investor's non-custodial wallet, Bitwise is positioning the structure as materially different from a traditional fund wrapper, and says the retained tokens can also be used separately in DeFi lending or borrowing protocols, subject to the risks of those platforms. Three portfolios are live at launch. Mag7X offers equal weighted exposure to Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Tesla, plus SpaceX. An AI L

Bitwise Launches Self Custody Portfolios of Coinbase Tokenised US Stocks With Glider

Asset manager Bitwise has launched a set of automated portfolios built on Coinbase's tokenised US stocks, letting eligible non-US investors follow preset investment strategies while keeping their tokens in their own wallets rather than handing custody to a fund manager.

Shawn Jhanji

4 hours ago2 min read

Franklin Templeton has extended its flagship tokenised money market fund into Asia, partnering with Hong Kong based HashKey Exchange to give digital asset investors across the region access to a blockchain based US government liquidity product through a licensed exchange for the first time. The Franklin OnChain US Government Money Fund, known by its ticker grBENJI, went live on HashKey Exchange's Earn Channel on 24 August 2026. The fund invests primarily in US government money market instruments and US dollar cash assets, with blockchain infrastructure used to record and transfer ownership. Access in Hong Kong is currently restricted to professional investors, meaning the product cannot be offered to the general public in that market. The partnership builds on Franklin Templeton's earlier move into the region. The asset manager debuted Hong Kong's first tokenised money market fund in November 2025 under the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's Fintech 2030 plan. HashKey's platform now

Franklin Templeton Brings Its Tokenised Money Market Fund to Asia Through HashKey Exchange

Franklin Templeton has extended its flagship tokenised money market fund into Asia, partnering with Hong Kong based HashKey Exchange to give digital asset investors across the region access to a blockchain based US government liquidity product through a licensed exchange for the first time.

Shawn Jhanji

4 hours ago2 min read

Thirty nine US state banking associations announced on 25 August 2026 the formation of BankChain Alliance, an industry consortium set to build a bank owned blockchain network intended to go live in 2027, supporting tokenised deposits, bank issued stablecoins, smart payment tools and automated settlement. The scale of the coalition is the headline detail. The member associations collectively represent 3,283 banks holding 21.8 trillion dollars in assets, spanning large national institutions down to small community and regional banks that would otherwise lack the resources to build blockchain infrastructure independently. That is the stated purpose of the alliance structure: to let banks of any size buy into a shared, industry owned network rather than each building or licensing separate rails, and to keep customer deposits inside bank issued instruments rather than flowing out to external stablecoin issuers. Kathy Kraninger, who currently heads the Florida Bankers Association and p

39 US State Banking Groups Form BankChain Alliance to Build a Bank Owned Blockchain Network by 2027

Thirty nine US state banking associations announced on 25 August 2026 the formation of BankChain Alliance, an industry consortium set to build a bank owned blockchain network intended to go live in 2027, supporting tokenised deposits, bank issued stablecoins, smart payment tools and automated settle

Shawn Jhanji

4 hours ago2 min read

INVESTING & FINANCE

M&G Investments and Schroders are among the asset managers bidding to run Britain's proposed £1 billion Scale Up Fund, Sky News reported on Wednesday, as the consortium of pension providers behind the vehicle moves from announcement to execution. A number of other firms, including specialist early stage investors, have also applied, according to the report, and a formal manager appointment process is now under way. The fund traces back to an announcement in July, when Railpen, Nest and three of the six Local Government Pension Scheme asset pools, Local Pensions Partnership Investments, LGPS Central and Border to Coast Pensions Partnership, committed to explore a first of its kind vehicle dedicated to scaling British science and technology companies. The British Business Bank is working alongside the group and intends to co invest, while the Office for Investment is supporting the consortium as it develops the fund's structure. Government figures were direct about the gap the fund

M&G and Schroders Lead the Field to Run Britain's New £1 Billion Pension Backed Scale Up Fund

M&G Investments and Schroders are among the asset managers bidding to run Britain's proposed £1 billion Scale Up Fund, Sky News reported on Wednesday, as the consortium of pension providers behind the vehicle moves from announcement to execution. A number of other firms, including specialist early s

Shawn Jhanji

4 hours ago4 min read

If you are wondering which model wins the tokenisation infrastructure race, this week's confirmation from one of the world's largest custodian banks is a bigger signal than another platform launch. Citi Investor Services confirmed on 18 August that it will launch digital asset custody later this year, starting with bitcoin, as part of a new platform called Custody+. Custody+ brings together real time asset servicing, instant settlement, on demand FX, real time cash and liquidity management, digital asset custody and white label infrastructure that other institutions can plug into. Citi's Single Event Processing technology already processes more than 80 per cent of the bank's total asset servicing event volume in real time in the US, according to the bank. Starting with bitcoin lets Citi enter through the largest and most liquid digital asset market, aimed at institutional investors who already hold or are preparing to gain exposure. But the more consequential piece sits alongside

Citi Confirms Bitcoin Custody Launch Under New Custody+ Platform

For UK founders and investors watching which model wins the tokenisation infrastructure race, this week's confirmation from one of the world's largest custodian banks is a bigger signal than another platform launch.

Shawn Jhanji

Aug 192 min read

QuantumLight, the venture firm founded by Revolut chief executive Nik Storonsky, has closed 500 million dollars for its second fund, doubling the size of the 250 million dollar debut vehicle it closed just over a year ago. It appears QuantumLight is trying to prove that an early stage investment decision can be made by a machine reading millions of data points rather than a partner reading a pitch deck and a warm introduction. What happened QuantumLight was founded in 2022 by Storonsky alongside chief executive Ilya Kondrashov. Its central proposition is Aleph, a proprietary AI system that the firm says has evaluated more than 700,000 venture backed companies and has recommended all 17 of the deals QuantumLight has made to date, including UK legal AI company Robin AI and employee benefits platform Ben. The firm's pitch to limited partners is that removing human judgement from sourcing and screening reduces the pattern matching and network bias that shapes which founders get s

QuantumLight Closes 500 Million Dollar Second Fund

QuantumLight, the venture firm founded by Revolut chief executive Nik Storonsky, has closed 500 million dollars for its second fund, doubling the size of the 250 million dollar debut vehicle it closed just over a year ago. Sifted reported the close on 18 August, citing people familiar with the deal.

Shawn Jhanji

Aug 183 min read

Startup News

Pre-seed founders outside the AI hype cycle are having a harder time raising than the headline numbers suggest. The British Business Bank's Small Business Equity Tracker 2026, published in July, found that UK equity investment into smaller businesses fell 4 per cent to 12.3 billion pounds in 2025, with seed stage deals down 27 per cent and venture stage deals down 13 per cent. AI related deals accounted for 44 per cent of all investment, the highest share on record, which means a shrinking pool of capital is being split even more unevenly for founders building outside that category. Against that backdrop, Haatch has opened its fifteenth Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme fund, with a data room that went live to investors this week and, according to the firm, is already seeing demand run ahead of supply. Haatch is a B2B SaaS focused pre-seed and seed investor that has run its SEIS programme through a partnership with equity crowdfunding platform Crowdcube, and SEIS 15 continues that m

Haatch Opens Its 15th SEIS Fund as Demand for Early Stage Tax Relief Keeps Outrunning Supply

Pre-seed founders outside the AI hype cycle are having a harder time raising than the headline numbers suggest. The British Business Bank's Small Business Equity Tracker 2026, published in July, found that UK equity investment into smaller businesses fell 4 per cent to 12.3 billion pounds in 2025, w

Shawn Jhanji

4 hours ago3 min read

Over 230 founders, 17 roundtables, 11 cities, all four nations of the UK. Earlier this year Startup Coalition ran the kind of listening tour that policymakers usually only manage in an election year, sitting down with founders from Belfast to Cardiff and Aberdeen to Leeds to hear, unfiltered, what is actually holding them back. Tokenisingstartups.com found the findings, published this week ahead of the Autumn Budget, land on a single, blunt conclusion: the UK tax system does not reward the risk founders take. That is the structural problem, and it is worth stating plainly before getting to what is changing. Founders leave secure employment, defer income, remortgage houses and spend years building before seeing a return, if they ever do. Capital allocators, employees and even the state itself have mechanisms that recognise and reward the risk they carry. The founder, on Startup Coalition's reading of 230 conversations, does not feel proportionately recognised, and severa

Startup Coalition's 230 Founder Roadshow Finds the Tax System Does Not Reward Founder Risk, Ahead of the Budget

Over 230 founders, 17 roundtables, 11 cities, all four nations of the UK. Earlier this year Startup Coalition ran the kind of listening tour that policymakers usually only manage in an election year, sitting down with founders from Belfast to Cardiff and Aberdeen to Leeds to hear, unfiltered, what i

Shawn Jhanji

2 days ago4 min read

The headline number in Beauhurst and NatWest's latest New Startup Index looks like bad news at first glance. New company incorporations fell 5.7 per cent in the first half of 2026 compared with the same period last year, with 402,000 businesses registered at Companies House. Read only that far and the story is one of founders losing confidence. The fuller picture is more interesting. The UK's active business population has climbed to a record 5.66 million companies, an eight year high, even as the pace of new formation cools. Beauhurst's analysts attribute part of the fall in new incorporations to changes at Companies House that are filtering out low intent and fraudulent registrations that previously inflated the headline count, which means the underlying formation rate may be healthier than the raw year on year comparison suggests. The regional and sector detail is where the index earns its keep for founders trying to read the market rather than just the headline. Scotland

UK Active Business Population Hits Record 5.66 Million as New Incorporations Fall 5.7 Per Cent

The headline number in Beauhurst and NatWest's latest New Startup Index looks like bad news at first glance. New company incorporations fell 5.7 per cent in the first half of 2026 compared with the same period last year, with 402,000 businesses registered at Companies House. Read only that far and t

Shawn Jhanji

2 days ago2 min read

Law & regulation

The US Securities and Exchange Commission proposed Regulation Crypto Assets on 18 August, opening a 60 day public comment period on a new framework that would let companies raise money through crypto asset offerings without full Securities Act registration. The move lands only days after the regulator cancelled a planned 14 August vote on a separate, and much watched, tokenised securities innovation exemption, a reminder that not every part of the US crypto rulebook is moving at the same speed. Regulation Crypto Assets creates two new exemptions from Securities Act registration for offerings of covered investment contracts involving crypto assets. A startup exemption would allow raises of up to 5 million dollars, and a separate fundraising exemption would allow up to 75 million dollars, both subject to conditions the SEC will refine during the comment period. It is a narrower, more conventional piece of rulemaking than the tokenised securities exemption that was pulled from the agen

SEC Proposes Regulation Crypto Assets With Two Registration Exemptions While Tokenised Securities Exemption Stays Stalled

The US Securities and Exchange Commission proposed Regulation Crypto Assets on 18 August, opening a 60 day public comment period on a new framework that would let companies raise money through crypto asset offerings without full Securities Act registration. The move lands only days after the regulat

Shawn Jhanji

Aug 193 min read

The US Securities and Exchange Commission cancelled its 14 August open meeting, where it had been expected to propose Regulation Crypto Assets, its first formal crypto specific rulemaking, and to unveil a long anticipated innovation exemption for tokenised securities. The regulator cited an unforeseen scheduling issue and gave no new date. For UK founders and platforms watching where the rules of tokenised capital will actually settle, the more useful story is why the meeting slipped, not that it did. The delay was not a technical hitch. White House officials were reportedly concerned that a broad SEC exemption would complicate Senate negotiations over the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act, the bill meant to draw a durable line between SEC and CFTC jurisdiction over digital assets. SEC staff were separately examining whether the agency had the legal authority, economic analysis and procedural grounding to grant relief covering such a fundamental change to how securities trade. The Se

SEC Crypto Rulemaking and Tokenised Securities Exemption Delayed as CLARITY Act Stalls

The US Securities and Exchange Commission cancelled its 14 August open meeting, where it had been expected to propose Regulation Crypto Assets, its first formal crypto specific rulemaking, and to unveil a long anticipated innovation exemption for tokenised securities. The regulator cited an unforese

Shawn Jhanji

Aug 183 min read

For anyone in the UK still waiting to see whether tokenisation talk turns into tokenisation infrastructure, 13 July gave the clearest answer so far. Chris Woolard CBE, HM Treasury's Wholesale Digital Markets Champion, published his first report to the Chancellor, and it arrives with a taskforce of 54 firms behind it, including BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and UBS. The group is backed by the City of London Corporation and will spend the next year working on live tokenisation use cases across UK financial markets, starting with tokenised repo. Woolard, who spent eight years as chair of the Financial Conduct Authority before taking on the Champion role in April, is addressing the report to whoever holds the Chancellor's job next, a reminder that this is being built to outlast any one minister. The headline numbers are designed to focus minds. Woolard's report estimates that wider tokenisation could add up to £33 billion to UK annual economic output and £1

UK Launches 54-Firm Tokenisation Taskforce Led by Chris Woolard and Wall Street Giants

The group is backed by the City of London Corporation and will spend the next year working on live tokenisation use cases across UK financial markets, starting with tokenised repo. Woolard, who spent eight years as chair of the Financial Conduct Authority before taking on the Champion role in April, is addressing the report to whoever holds the Chancellor's job next, a reminder that this is being built to outlast any one minister. The headline numbers are designed to focus mi

Shawn Jhanji

Jul 134 min read

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THE LEGAL VIEW

As the equities markets are generally moving towards tokenisation, a common question is how the marketing of tokenised equity differs from traditional equity. In this respect, it is a mistake to focus on the “tokenised” element of tokenised equity. In the UK, tokenisation does not, from a purely legal analysis, expand the target market to whom shares can be sold. Where a token represents rights to, or interests in, an underlying share, it is very likely going to be treated as a security under UK law. This means the same regulatory framework that applies to traditional securities also governs the categories of investors to whom tokenised equity may be offered or sold. In this respect, the rules that govern marketing into the UK are deliberately broad in scope and can apply even where the issuer is based overseas, provided the relevant communications are capable of having an effect in the UK. As such, before marketing or selling tokenised equity to UK investors, firms should carefu

Borderless Assets, Not Borderless Investors: Who Can Invest in Tokenised Equity?

As the equities markets are generally moving towards tokenisation, a common question is how the marketing of tokenised equity differs from traditional equity. In this respect, it is a mistake to focus on the “tokenised” element of tokenised equity. In the UK, tokenisation does not, from a purely legal analysis, expand the target market to whom shares can be sold. Where a token represents rights to, or interests in, an underlying share, it is very likely going to be treated as

Jul 275 min read

Going down the rabbit hole: an introduction to tokenised equity

For founders and investors. If you are a founder weighing up whether to tokenise your equity, or an investor trying to work out what you would actually be buying, this is the place to start. From a legal perspective, it covers: how tokenised equity works, what changes, what does not, and where the rules are heading. Tokenisation is a concept often met with much hype and little knowledge. At its core it is simple. A cryptoasset token is just shorthand for data held on-chai

Jun 304 min read

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Standard Chartered and HSBC Complete First Live Tokenised Deposit Transaction on Swift's Blockchain Ledger

For UK founders and investors watching whether tokenisation infrastructure gets built from scratch or bolted onto rails the world already trusts, this week's answer came from two of the biggest names in global banking. Standard Chartered and HSBC have completed the first live cross border transactio

Citi Confirms Bitcoin Custody Launch Under New Custody+ Platform

If you are still treating tokenised equity as a slow burn regulatory story, the retail adoption numbers out this week are a reminder that the market is not waiting for permission. The total number of holders of tokenised stocks climbed to 1.31 million, more than double the figure recorded 30 days earlier, according to data published by RWA.xyz. Monthly transfer volume rose 179 per cent over the same period to 23.13 billion dollars. Monthly active addresses increased 34.62 per cent to nearly 572,000, and total distributed value across the sector grew 5.9 per cent to 2.38 billion dollars. The growth sits inside a wider expansion across real world asset tokenisation, with Standard Chartered forecasting that the total tokenised RWA market could reach 4 trillion dollars by the end of 2028. Three platforms account for the bulk of the distributed value. Ondo Finance holds approximately 872 million dollars, Kraken's xStocks follows at 557.8 million dollars, and Binance's bStocks sits at

Tokenised Stock Holders Double to 1.31 Million as Monthly Trading Volume Jumps 179 Per Cent to 23.13 Billion Dollars

For UK founders and investors still treating tokenised equity as a slow burn regulatory story, the retail adoption numbers out this week are a reminder that the market is not waiting for permission. The total number of holders of tokenised stocks climbed to 1.31 million, more than double the figure

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Standard Chartered and HSBC Complete First Live Tokenised Deposit Transaction on Swift's Blockchain Ledger

For UK founders and investors watching whether tokenisation infrastructure gets built from scratch or bolted onto rails the world already trusts, this week's answer came from two of the biggest names in global banking. Standard Chartered and HSBC have completed the first live cross border transaction on Swift's blockchain based ledger, using it to exchange and settle tokenised deposit obligations between the two banks. The transaction worked across three layers. HSBC and Standard Chartered exchanged payment messages through Swift's ledger. The resulting obligations were recorded on HSBC's Tokenised Deposit Service and on Standard Chartered's own tokenised deposit infrastructure. Swift's ledger then matched and netted those obligations before final settlement occurred through existing payment systems, rather than through a new settlement network built from the ground up. The significance is not the technology on its own. Tokenised deposits already exist at several global banks, in

Tokenised Stock Holders Double to 1.31 Million as Monthly Trading Volume Jumps 179 Per Cent to 23.13 Billion Dollars

Marechale Capital's Blubird Unveils Ricardian Contract Tokenisation Platform, Shares Jump 11 Per Cent

For UK founders and investors wondering whether tokenisation infrastructure will be built by crypto native platforms or by regulated City institutions, this week's announcement from AIM listed Marechale Capital offered a clear answer.

This week's announcement from AIM listed Marechale Capital offered a clear answer to UK founders and investors wondering whether tokenisation infrastructure will be built by crypto native platforms or by regulated City institutions, Blubird Global, the wholly owned subsidiary of Marechale Capital, launched a second generation tokenisation platform, digital asset registry and marketplace on 5 August, sending Marechale's shares up as much as 11 per cent in early trading on London's AIM market. The platform is built around what Blubird calls Ricardian contracts: single digital documents that function simultaneously as a legally binding agreement readable by people and as code readable by software. That design directly targets a weakness that has dogged earlier waves of tokenisation, where the token, the underlying legal documentation and the official ownership register were often maintained as three separate, loosely reconciled systems. Blubird's pitch is that binding all three tog

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