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British financial regulators have taken an important step towards integrating blockchain into the existing financial system. Her Majesty's Treasury, in collaboration with the Bank of England, has launched a pilot project to issue government bonds in digital format. The bonds will be issued on the Orion platform, which is supported by HSBC Holdings.

The project was named DIGIT. Its goal is to create tokenized analogues of the traditional debt obligations of the British government, known as "digital gilts". The Orion blockchain platform, developed by HSBC specifically for large investors, will become the technical base for the issuance, trading and settlement of these digital assets.

Special attention is paid to the environment in which the testing will be conducted. All tests will be conducted within the framework of the Bank of England's digital sandbox, which will allow the regulator to monitor the entire process.

The launch of this pilot project puts the UK at the forefront of the G7 countries in implementing blockchain in the field of public debt. Prior to that, similar initiatives were taken by Switzerland and Luxembourg, which are not members of the G7. At the same time, Germany recently passed legislation allowing the issuance of digital bonds.

Successful completion of testing in the Bank of England's sandbox will allow the UK not only to acquire new technologies, but also to create a regulatory precedent that can serve as the basis for modernizing the entire debt market system. It is also a significant opportunity for HSBC to strengthen its position as a leading technology partner for the public sector.