This Episode’s guest John Salmon, Partner at Hogan Lovells and Co-Chair of the Digital Assets and Blockchain practice, discusses the UK Wholesale Financial Markets Digital Strategy. Together with the host, Polina Evstifeeva, they examine how DLT, AI, stablecoins, and tokenized deposits can transform market infrastructure while addressing regulatory and operational considerations.
Background
In July 2025, the UK Government published the Wholesale Financial Markets Digital Strategy, setting out an ambitious vision to drive economic growth by embracing digital innovation and emerging technologies such as DLT, AI, and quantum computing.
Key initiatives including the Digital Securities Sandbox (DSS), the DIGIT sovereign bond pilot, and explorations around tokenized deposits and stablecoins underscore this forward-looking approach.
Yet questions remain: does the current regulatory environment enable the market to fully capitalise on these opportunities without regulatory or operational obstacles becoming significant barriers? Considerations include the transaction limits within the DSS and proposed systemic caps on stablecoins – do these constraints justify the substantial investment required for institutional participation? Is English law sufficiently supportive as markets transition away from paper-based securities, and what practical impact will the newly enacted Property (Digital Assets etc) Act 2025 have?
Listen to the full episode for deeper insights into these developments.
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