The Bank of England has selected 18 organisations to participate in its Synchronisation Lab, a six-month non-live simulation designed to test how external ledgers, including those built on distributed ledger technology, could coordinate atomic settlement with the Bank's renewed Real-Time Gross Settlement infrastructure known as RT2. The Lab is expected to launch in spring 2026.
The synchronisation capability being tested would allow two linked transactions, such as a payment and an asset transfer, to settle simultaneously in central bank money. This atomic settlement model eliminates the settlement risk that exists when payment and delivery occur at different times. The Bank envisions synchronisation as a core feature of the RT2 platform, enabling RTGS to function as an open settlement layer that can interoperate with a range of external systems.
The selected participants span market infrastructure operators, global banks, fintech firms, and decentralised technology companies. Among the confirmed organisations, Chainlink and UAC Labs will test decentralised methods for coordinating synchronised settlement between central bank money and assets on distributed ledger platforms. SWIFT is expected to explore applications related to foreign exchange settlement. The London Stock Exchange Group will test the settlement of tokenised bonds. Partior will examine synchronised cross-border and collateral transactions. Tokenovate, ClearToken, and Nuvante are also among the selected firms.
The use cases reflect the breadth of potential applications for synchronisation, including tokenised securities settlement, collateral management, foreign exchange, digital money issuance, and property transactions. A house-purchase scenario, where property transfer, mortgage disbursement, and payment all settle atomically, is among the test cases.
The Bank intends to use insights from the Lab to refine the design of a live synchronisation service that it aims to make operational in 2027. The initiative represents one of the most advanced central bank experiments in bridging traditional RTGS infrastructure with distributed ledger platforms, moving beyond proof-of-concept into structured testing with real market participants.