UK bond fund ownership records move onto Ethereum and Solana accessible 24/7
Baillie Gifford is testing a more advanced form of fund tokenization with BAGEY, a UK-regulated OEIC that uses public blockchains as part of the legal ownership register, not just as a wrapper around a conventional fund. Issuance is described as native on Ethereum and Solana, with BNY handling tokenization/wallet infrastructure and NatWest as depositary. This matters because the focus shifts from distribution to fund administration: the on-chain record may help define who legally owns the fund units. The model aligns with the UK FCA’s PS26/7 framework for DLT-based unitholder registers and tokenized funds. The launch is significant but still unproven on key questions: secondary trading, 24/7 settlement, collateral use, wallet-loss handling, sanctions screening, redemption timing, and whether an on-chain entry is fully enforceable. It shows public chains can support regulated ownership records, but not yet that they can replace the full traditional fund infrastructure.
