UK-based financial market infrastructure provider ClearToken and blockchain technology company Consensys have formed a strategic partnership to enable around-the-clock settlement of tokenized assets and cash in wholesale financial markets. The collaboration is intended to combine the security of blockchain transactions with the legal certainty and regulatory controls required by institutional participants.

According to the companies' joint announcement, the initiative seeks to establish infrastructure that supports 24/7 settlement of tokenized securities against cash, combining cryptographic transaction finality with legally enforceable settlement finality. It targets a key challenge in financial market modernization: enabling assets to move continuously across blockchain networks while ensuring that clearing, settlement and safekeeping processes operate within an appropriate regulatory framework.

Under the arrangement, Consensys will contribute blockchain infrastructure, interoperability technology and institutional distribution capabilities, while ClearToken will provide the clearing and settlement framework intended to establish legally recognized transfers within the UK's regulatory perimeter.

ClearToken Develops Regulated Settlement Framework

ClearToken CSD Limited — a central securities depository, the type of market infrastructure responsible for holding and recording securities — is developing infrastructure under Gate 2 approval in the Bank of England's Digital Securities Sandbox. The sandbox is a UK regime run by the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority that allows firms to develop and scale distributed ledger-based financial market infrastructure under supervision, progressing through defined admission gates. The system is designed to allow eligible securities held across different banks to be tokenized and represented as a single fungible instrument.

Working alongside ClearToken Depository Limited — an authorized payment institution regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority — the group aims to support delivery-versus-payment settlement on a continuous basis. This mechanism links the transfer of securities with the corresponding payment, helping reduce the risk that one side of a transaction is completed without the other.

Eligible settlement assets could include conventional fiat currency, tokenized bank deposits — digital representations of commercial bank money recorded on distributed ledgers — and stablecoins. The proposed arrangement is intended to support transactions throughout the week, including outside traditional banking and securities market operating hours. In conventional wholesale markets, securities settlement generally follows fixed business-day cycles, a constraint that continuous infrastructure of this kind is designed to address.

The companies argue that tokenization alone cannot deliver the full benefits of continuous financial markets if the supporting infrastructure remains restricted to conventional operating schedules. Their partnership therefore focuses on connecting blockchain-based transactions with the legal and operational mechanisms needed to complete institutional trades.

ClearToken distinguishes between cryptographic finality, under which a recorded blockchain transaction cannot be altered given the network's security assumptions, and settlement finality, under which a transfer is legally final and irrevocable. The partnership is designed to address both requirements.

Consensys to Connect Banks and Blockchain Networks

Consensys will provide interoperability capabilities intended to connect banks, brokers, asset managers and financial market infrastructure providers across different blockchain networks and existing financial systems. The technology is expected to support private, compliant interactions between institutional participants. The company will also contribute tokenization infrastructure, wallet technology and institutional relationships to help ClearToken bring its services to prospective clients and partners.

ClearToken Group Chief Executive Ben Santos-Stephens said the growing diversity of blockchain networks has made interoperability increasingly important for wholesale markets. He indicated that institutions need infrastructure capable of connecting existing banks, assets and ledgers across the networks they choose to use. Santos-Stephens also emphasized the complementary roles of the two companies, with Consensys supplying technology and institutional connections while ClearToken develops the legal and clearing framework required for regulated operations.

Consensys and ClearToken have announced a strategic partnership to bring 24/7 settlement to wholesale markets, pairing cryptographic finality with settlement finality. Read the full announcement ↓ — Consensys.eth (@Consensys) October 8, 2026

ClearToken Group Chief Commercial Officer Mark Williamson noted that institutional clients were particularly interested in tokenization that could fit into their existing risk management and collateral processes. This suggests that compatibility with established financial operations will remain important for adoption.

Regulatory Approval Remains a Key Milestone

Consensys President David Cunningham said financial institutions and market infrastructure providers are moving toward continuous operations, with tokenization playing a central role. He highlighted the company's work on interoperability for bank-issued tokens across multiple payment networks and financial market infrastructure systems, and pointed to ClearToken's development of a regulated framework for continuous clearing and settlement — while acknowledging that the proposed model remains subject to the necessary clearing authorization from the Bank of England.

If the required authorization is secured, the partnership could allow institutional clients to settle eligible tokenized assets around the clock while improving operational coordination and potentially reducing settlement risks.

The collaboration reflects a broader effort to bridge blockchain-based financial infrastructure with established regulatory systems. Its implementation will depend on regulatory approval, technical integration and institutional participation, as the companies work toward a settlement model that combines continuous blockchain operations with legally enforceable financial transactions.