Consensys and ClearToken target 24/7 market settlement

Consensys and ClearToken announced a partnership on October 8 to develop 24/7 settlement for tokenised securities and cash in wholesale markets, aiming to let institutions move assets and payments outside normal market hours, according to ClearToken’s announcement.

• Partnership announced: October 8, 2026.
• Target: settlement around the clock, 24/7.
• ClearToken CSD passed Gate 2 in the Bank of England’s Digital Securities Sandbox on September 18.

The plan combines ClearToken’s regulated market infrastructure with Consensys’ blockchain technology. The companies say it is intended to help banks move tokenised assets and cash between institutions while retaining legal controls over settlement.

How would the settlement work across securities and cash?

ClearToken says its CSD unit, which handles securities, is designed to tokenise eligible securities held at different banks and recognise them as one fungible instrument. Fungible means that units of the same instrument can be exchanged for one another.

The proposed process would use delivery-versus-payment: securities transfer only as payment is made. ClearToken says the cash side could include fiat currency, tokenised deposits or stablecoins, with its FCA-authorised payment institution working alongside the CSD.

The announcement describes this as an aim, not a completed service jointly launched with Consensys. It gives no launch timetable, named bank customers or transaction volumes for the partnership.

What does Consensys contribute?

Consensys is to provide tokenisation infrastructure, wallets and access to institutional clients and partners, while connecting banks, brokers and asset managers across blockchain networks and financial market infrastructure, the firms said. The announcement does not name a specific blockchain for the planned settlement.

The firms describe the arrangement as combining two types of finality. A blockchain record provides technical certainty that a transaction cannot be altered; settlement finality means the transfer is legally complete and irrevocable.

ClearToken chief executive Ben Santos-Stephens said institutions need infrastructure that connects the banks, assets and ledgers already in use. Consensys President David Cunningham said the company is working on interoperability for bank-issued tokens across payment schemes and market infrastructure.

Which regulatory steps are in place?

ClearToken CSD passed Gate 2 of the Bank of England’s Digital Securities Sandbox on September 18. The Bank’s sandbox dashboard lists the approval; Gate 2 allows approved firms to conduct live activity under stated conditions and limits.

That approval gives ClearToken CSD a supervised route to operate as a Digital Securities Depository, but it does not mean every part of the partnership is fully authorised. ClearToken says its separate central-counterparty unit has applied to the Bank of England for authorisation, and Consensys says the planned 24/7 clearing and settlement route remains subject to that approval.

ClearToken’s payment unit went live in December 2025 for digital-asset and fiat payment and settlement services, according to the company. The partnership announcement does not say when those services will be extended to the proposed tokenised securities workflow.

Sources and documents

• ClearToken’s announcement — cleartoken.io
• sandbox dashboard — bankofengland.co.uk