Powering the First Digital Pound Sterling with AlphaPoint’s Tokenization Platform
Introduction
In November 2018, AlphaPoint collaborated with London Block Exchange to mint and launch GBPP, the first-ever blockchain-based digital pound sterling. This initiative heralded a new era—deploying tokenized fiat on-chain long before stablecoins entered mainstream finance.
In the early days of stablecoins—when USD-based tokens were just gaining traction and regulation was still nascent—AlphaPoint and London Block Exchange (LBX) had made history. This groundbreaking 2018 initiative helped shape the conversation around stablecoin design, security, and compliance.
The Goals
- Pioneer GBP tokenization: Enable the UK’s first fully-backed, auditable digital pound, blurring the line between fiat and crypto.
- Enhance financial infrastructure: Unlock faster, traceable, global transfers with 24/7 settlement and programmable money rails.
- Boost crypto adoption: Use GBPP as a stable “on-ramp” asset—protecting users from volatility while enhancing liquidity on exchanges.
The Solution
- Token issuance and backing: Minted on November 12, 2018 at 11:00 GMT, GBPP was implemented as an ERC-621 token—pegged 1:1 to GBP held in a segregated, onshore UK bank account with supply dynamically adjusted to match audited reserves.
- Atlas-grade blockchain deployment: Hosted by AlphaPoint’s secure, scalable DLT platform—supporting up to 1M transactions/sec, global compliance, and multi-chain issuance.
- Rigorous regulatory compliance: Issued under FCA oversight via LBX’s EMD registration, ensuring strong KYC/AML protocols and UK bank auditing.
- Integrated utility and exchange support: Enabled payments to merchants, on-chain dividends, and seamless trading pairs—opening new liquidity for GBP-denominated pairs.
“LBXPeg is required in the market as although the appetite for stablecoins is growing, trust in current projects remains flat… [and] will allow users to transfer the digital equivalent of GBP quickly, easily and on a global scale through a decentralised network.”
Key Takeaways
Looking back, the GBPP launch holds several lessons for both technologists and regulators. It served as a prototype for compliance-aware stablecoin issuance, helped normalize GBP-based on-chain liquidity, and provided a testbed for what later became foundational best practices in the tokenized currency space.
- Ahead-of-the-curve innovation: 2018 GBPP pre-dated most GBP stablecoins (e.g., Agant’s GBPA, 2024), showcasing AlphaPoint’s lead.
- Robust framework blueprint: Established essential practices—exact backing, multi-chain issuance, FCA regulation—now considered stablecoin best-practices.
- Demonstrated real-world utility: Showcased programmable payments, dividends, and exchange pairing long before CBDC sands were even being stirred.
- Strategic compliance-first architecture: Built with UK bank, FCA oversight, and audits—reinforcing trust long before regulation caught up.
- Catalyst for future issuance: Set a precedent for GBP digital assets and informed policy and private stablecoin design across Europe.
Conclusion
The collaboration between AlphaPoint and LBX to launch GBPP was not just a technical achievement—it was a strategic foreshadowing of how fiat currencies would eventually converge with blockchain rails. This 2018 launch predated major regulatory frameworks like the EU’s MiCA, the UK’s Financial Services and Markets Act (2023), and the FCA’s stablecoin consultation papers (DP23/4) that now define guardrails for fiat-backed tokens. It proved that real-world stablecoins could be responsibly issued under clear audit, reserve, and compliance controls—even before regulators codified the path.
Today, as central banks explore CBDCs and governments formalize rules around electronic money tokens, the GBPP project stands out as a blueprint that was well ahead of its time—demonstrating the viability of transparent, compliant, and scalable digital currencies. AlphaPoint’s early work not only validated the stablecoin use case, but continues to inspire the architecture of modern financial infrastructure.
