UK nears 24/7 RTGS & CHAPS as tokenization rules advance with FCA/PRA

Published: 2026-05-18 15:34:57 |

The Bank of England (BoE) and the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) opened a joint consultation on extending operating hours for the RTGS and CHAPS payment and settlement systems toward near-24/7. The goal is to help the wholesale market support cross-border payments and future payment models as tokenization and distributed ledger technologies develop. The consultation runs until July 3, with a feedback statement planned for summer. Separately, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) updated guidance for bank CEOs. It says tokenized financial instruments should receive the same regulatory treatment as traditional instruments when legal rights and risk profiles are comparable. This interim guidance replaces earlier (2022) rules, ahead of a longer-term prudential framework expected no earlier than 2028 after a Basel review covering tokenization, stablecoins, and permissionless blockchains. For crypto markets, the FCA remains the lead regulator and is also running a separate consultation on its crypto regime, including stablecoin issuance, trading, custody, and staking, with full implementation targeted for October 2027. The earlier FCA work also signaled greater allowance for on-chain records to act as the principal ledger for fund tokenization, reducing reliance on an additional off-chain transaction record. Trading takeaway: this is a market-structure and regulatory-infrastructure story, not an immediate price catalyst. Still, the shift toward tokenization-ready settlement (tokenization + extended settlement hours) could improve liquidity and execution over time, while clearer guardrails may support broader institutional adoption.

Neutral

Both articles point to regulatory and settlement-engine changes rather than an immediate token-specific catalyst. Extending RTGS/CHAPS toward near-24/7 could gradually improve execution and liquidity for tokenized markets, which is supportive in the long run. However, the key items (consultation timelines, a later prudential framework expected no earlier than 2028, and FCA crypto regime implementation targeted for October 2027) suggest the biggest effects are likely to be incremental, not instantly reflected in prices. Overall, the news is more likely to shift market structure expectations than to create a short-term bullish or bearish impulse for any specific cryptocurrency mentioned in the articles (none were named by ticker).