What are the common challenges startups face in equity tokenisation?

The most common challenges include navigating FCA regulatory requirements, selecting the right tokenisation platform, structuring the legal framework for tokenised equity, educating investors unfamiliar with digital securities, and ensuring compliance with the UK Digital Securities Sandbox rules.

What are tokenisation platforms and how do they work?

Tokenisation platforms are regulated technology providers that convert equity or other assets into digital tokens on a blockchain or distributed ledger. In the UK, platforms operating under FCA oversight include those participating in the Digital Securities Sandbox. They handle the technical issuance, custody, and transfer of tokenised securities.

What financial insights should founders know before tokenising equity?

Founders should understand the cost structure of tokenisation (legal, platform, and compliance fees), the valuation implications of fractional ownership, how tokenised equity differs from traditional equity crowdfunding, and the tax treatment of digital securities under UK law.

What investor strategies apply to tokenised equity?

Investors in tokenised equity can benefit from fractional ownership of high-value assets, improved liquidity through secondary market trading on regulated platforms, portfolio diversification across early-stage UK startups, and participation in deals previously accessible only to institutional investors.

What is the UK regulatory landscape for equity tokenisation?

The UK regulatory landscape is governed primarily by the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) and HM Treasury. Key frameworks include the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, the Digital Securities Sandbox (DSS), and ongoing FCA consultations on the treatment of tokenised securities. The UK is positioning itself as a global leader in regulated digital securities.

What is equity tokenisation?

Equity tokenisation is the process of converting ownership rights in a company into digital tokens recorded on a blockchain or distributed ledger. These tokens represent shares or equity stakes and can be transferred, traded, or held digitally, subject to regulatory compliance. In the UK, tokenised equity is treated as a regulated financial instrument under FCA oversight.

Archax Joins TCMAG, and the UK Now Has a Seat at the Table Where Institutional Digital Money Standards Are Being Set

Shawn Jhanji
May 28
3 min read

When standards bodies form in emerging financial markets, the names on the founding membership list matter enormously. They shape the requirements, the definitions and ultimately the infrastructure that gets built. The Tokenised Cash Management Advisory Group, known as TCMAG, is the closest thing the institutional digital money sector currently has to a standards-setting body with real banking weight behind it. This week, Archax confirmed its membership, making it the first FCA-regulated digital securities exchange to join.

What TCMAG is, and why it matters

TCAG was established as a practitioner-led body bringing together corporates, banks and technology providers to define the future of corporate treasury with tokenised money. Unlike many blockchain working groups, which tend to be vendor-led, TCMAG has positioned itself explicitly as a voice of institutional demand: organisations that need to use tokenised money in their treasury operations, not organisations trying to sell them something.

In April 2026, TCMAG published its core principles for the adoption of digital money in corporate treasury, the first substantive output from the group. The principles address how new forms of digital money should meet risk, control and operational requirements that corporate treasurers already apply to conventional cash. They cover programmability, settlement finality, interoperability, and the conditions under which tokenised money can be safely held and used for payments and collateral.

The founding supporting organisations included Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Bank, A&O Shearman, Swift, SAP, BitGo, Partior, Digital Asset, AllUnity and ZKsync, among others. The presence of two of the UK's four largest retail banks, both major investment banks and a global law firm signals that TCMAG is building influence with institutions that will actually determine how tokenised money flows through the corporate financial system.

Why Archax's membership is significant

Archax's entry into TCMAG adds a dimension the group did not previously have: a fully regulated digital securities exchange with FCA authorisation, operating across exchange, broker, custodian and tokenisation infrastructure functions. While the banks bring balance sheet weight and the technology providers bring platforms, Archax brings the regulated market infrastructure perspective. It understands how tokenised assets trade, settle and are held in a regulated environment, and it has the operational track record to speak to requirements that are still theoretical for many TCMAG participants.

Archax has spent several years establishing itself at the institutional end of the UK digital asset market. It was the first firm to appear on the FCA Cryptoasset Register and has been systematically building regulated institutional infrastructure: an FCA-regulated exchange, broker and custodian function, a US broker-dealer acquired in 2025, and a series of tokenisation partnerships with major financial institutions. Its participation in the Lingfeng tokenised venture fund alongside LSEG's Digital Markets Infrastructure platform demonstrated that its infrastructure can support complex regulated tokenised fund structures.

TCMAG membership places Archax in the room where the requirements for institutional tokenised money are being defined. That is commercially significant, because the firms that help write the requirements generally build the infrastructure that meets them.

The broader UK picture

The FCA and Bank of England's May 2026 joint roadmap for tokenisation in UK wholesale markets sets out a clear regulatory direction. What that direction needs is the industry infrastructure to match it. Archax joining TCMAG is one signal that UK-domiciled, FCA-regulated firms are not just complying with the emerging framework, but actively participating in the global conversation about what institutional digital money should look like and how it should work.

Key Takeaways

Archax has become a member of TCMAG, the Tokenized Cash Management Advisory Group, making it the first FCA-regulated digital securities exchange in the group
TCMAG published core principles for institutional digital money adoption in April 2026, covering risk, programmability, interoperability and settlement finality
Supporting members include Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Bank, A&O Shearman, Swift, SAP and BitGo
Archax brings regulated exchange, broker, custodian and tokenisation infrastructure expertise to the group
The membership places a UK-regulated platform in the room where global institutional digital money standards are being shaped