Share this article
UK Central Bank Says New Payments System Will Be Blockchain Friendly
The Bank of England confirmed it is going to update its Real-Time Gross Settlement system to potentially interact with blockchain-based forms.
Updated Sep 13, 2021, 8:12 a.m. Published Jul 24, 2018, 2:00 a.m.
The Bank of England's updated payments system will be compatible with blockchain-based financial technology forms, Reuters reported Monday.
The announcement is the latest in the BoE's ongoing efforts to modernize its Real-Time Gross Settlement system (RTGS), which is essential for banking and trading in Britain and handles transactions worth around £500 billion annually, or almost a third of the country's economic output. The upgraded system is expected to be launched in 2020, and will be designed to be resistant to cyber-attacks while also being available to a wider number of smaller businesses.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
This would enable these businesses to use the system directly, rather than through a proxy of a large bank.
In March, the BoE presented a "proof of concept," asking several firms, including payments technology providers Baton Systems and Token, R3 and Clearmatics, for feedback. They were asked to examine whether the "renewed" cloud-based RTGS service would be able to interact with systems based on distributed ledger technology (DLT) and how its functionality could be expanded through the use of new technologies.
"All participants confirmed that the functionality offered by the renewed RTGS service would enable their systems to connect and to achieve settlement in central bank money," the BoE explained Monday. "A number of recommendations were received to ensure optimal access to central bank money."
One of those recommendations was to explore the possible use of "cryptographic proofs" to protect data from being stolen or altered.
Bank of England image via Shutterstock
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
These Three Metrics Show Bitcoin Found Strong Support Near $80,000
Onchain data shows multiple cost basis metrics confirm heavy demand and investor conviction around the $80,000 price level.
What to know:
- Bitcoin rebounded from the $80,000 region after a sharp correction from its October all time high, with price holding above the average entry levels of key metrics.
- The convergence of the True Market Mean, U.S. ETF cost basis, and the 2024 yearly cost basis around the low $80,000 range highlights this zone as a major area of structural support.
Top Stories
