Digital Gilt Instrument (DIGIT)
Information and publications related to the Digital Gilt Instrument (DIGIT), including key milestone announcements and latest issuance details.
Overview of the Digital Gilt Instrument (DIGIT)
DIGIT will be an entirely new, digitally native, UK government debt instrument, and will support the government’s commitment to maintain the UK as a world-leading and global financial centre.
The pilot issuance is seeking to:
- Enable the government to explore how Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) can be applied to UK sovereign debt issuance processes.
- Catalyse the development of UK based DLT infrastructure and the adoption of DLT across UK financial markets.
In March 2025 the government announced the start of its procurement process for the Digital Gilt Instrument (DIGIT) Pilot. This first stage of the procurement process was the Preliminary Market Engagement Notice (PMEN), which sought views from potential suppliers and the wider financial services sector on the delivery of DIGIT. Taking into account feedback from the PMEN responses, the government confirmed the design features for DIGIT in July 2025.
The key design features include being issued onto a DLT platform within the Digital Securities Sandbox, being short dated, supporting interoperability, and enabling on-chain settlement.
In February 2026, the government announced that HSBC would provide services as the government’s DLT supplier.
In July 2026, the government confirmed that HSBC and LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) signed a memorandum of understanding to deliver a bilateral Digital Securities Depository link. This link is intended to provide connectivity between HSBC Orion as the issuer Digital Securities Depository (DSD) and LSEG B3 as an investor DSD which furthers the government’s ambition to support interoperability as a part of the pilot.
The government has engaged with regulators and LSEG on a potential listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). The government expects to list DIGIT on the LSE’s main market as a part of delivering the pilot issuance.
Subsequently, the government announced in October 2026, the appointment of Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Morgan Stanley, NatWest, and RBC Capital Markets as the Joint Lead Managers for the Digital Gilt Instrument (DIGIT) pilot issuance.
At Mansion House 2026, the previous Chancellor announced that the government is taking steps to prepare for potential further Digital Gilt Instrument (DIGIT) issuances, subject to the success of the first transaction which is expected to take place by Q1 2027.