Scotland needs to ‘act quickly’ on a digital assets opportunity that could be worth up to £5 billion to its economy, according to a new report.
Policymakers and industry leaders are being urged to adopt eight measures to help Scotland’s financial sector benefit from ‘tokenisation’, the growing move to hold and trade assets in digital form.
The report, published by the Scottish Digital Trust Centre of Excellence at Edinburgh Napier University, argues that the country’s financial services sector risks losing jobs and investment to other countries if it does not prepare for the shift.
Tokenisation involves creating a digital version of a financial asset, such as a share in an investment fund or a government bond, that is recorded on a shared digital ledger using blockchain technology.
The investment itself stays the same, but instead of ownership being tracked across several separate databases held by different firms, it is recorded in a single shared ledger, which supporters say allows trades to be settled faster and more cheaply.
Instead of being tracked across several separate databases held by different firms, ownership is held in a single shared record, which supporters say allows trades to be settled faster and more cheaply.
Unlike cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, tokenised assets represent real, existing investments and are typically run by regulated financial firms.
The technology is still at an early stage. Less than one dollar in every $10,000 of the world’s investments is currently held in tokenised form, but experts believe this could rise to one in every $6 by 2035. Earlier this month, Edinburgh-based Baillie Gifford launched the UK’s first natively tokenised investment fund.
The report says the shift will have a significant impact on Scotland’s financial services sector, which manages £500 billion in assets and employs around 151,000 people, and estimates that adopting its recommendations could generate between £3 billion and £5 billion for the Scottish economy.
Peter Ferry, chief executive of the Digital Trust Centre and one of the report’s authors, said: “Scotland’s financial services industry stands at a watershed. A tide in global finance is turning on tokenisation, and those who move with it will prosper.
“We have the people, expertise, great firms and a proud history of financial innovation. This report is a call to action, grounded in evidence. It charts a course; the answers will come and we will navigate it together.
“What we need now is resolve, and the coordination to act as one, to secure jobs and build the businesses of the future here in Scotland, rather than watch them carried to other shores.”
Sarah Forbes, emerging opportunities lead for financial services, Scottish Enterprise, said: “Scotland’s strengths in asset management, FinTech and digital innovation give us a strong foundation to capture the capital investment opportunities created by digital assets and tokenisation.
“Building on these capabilities can attract further investment, support innovation across the financial services sector and help secure high-value activity in Scotland.”
Alongside the report, the Digital Trust Centre is launching its third innovation challenge, focused on tokenisation and digital assets, in partnership with US banking giant Morgan Stanley and Edinburgh fintech firm Zumo.
The challenge invites companies to develop and test solutions against a real industry problem in the digital assets space, with grant funding awarded to successful teams.
Nick Jones, founder and CEO, Zumo, added: “Scotland has a huge opportunity to help drive tokenised capital markets, with Edinburgh emerging as a critical hub within the wider UK digital asset framework.
“The country combines centuries of unique monetary history with a highly developed tech ecosystem, growing regulatory backing, and targeted legal innovations – such as the Digital Assets (Scotland) Act 2026. And let’s not forget that Scotland set a historical precedent for modern fiat-backed stablecoins in the shape of the Scottish Banknote Regime.
“If the public and private sectors can now come together to take advantage of these strengths, Scotland will be very well positioned in the future financial services ecosystem.”
The report’s eight recommendations include a public commitment from the Scottish Government to make digital assets an economic priority, and a survey of Scotland’s 20 largest banks and asset managers to find out how prepared they are.
It also calls for a national taskforce to lead the strategy, renewed funding for the Digital Trust Centre to run a testing environment, and more support from Scottish Enterprise. Other proposals include a campaign to attract investment by promoting Scotland as the UK’s centre for tokenised finance, an annual report tracking the country’s progress, and a detailed study of the potential economic impact and jobs.
Download the Scotland’s Roadmap for Digital Assets and Tokenisation: Seizing the National Growth Opportunity in Global Financial Markets report here.