“This is one of the largest deals we’ve ever done and could bring hundreds of millions to billions of TVL to the Midnight ecosystem. I’m extremely proud of Fahmi Syed and his team at the Midnight Foundation for the hard work they put into the negotiations with Monument. Midnight is the home of Web 2.5 ventures.”
Why The Cardano So EnthusiasticMonument, a UK digital bank serving the mass-affluent segment, said it plans to become the first UK bank to tokenize retail customer deposits on a public blockchain, with Midnight providing the underlying network and privacy-preserving architecture.
The first phase is concrete. Monument said it is targeting up to £250 million in tokenized deposits, with each token representing a one-to-one claim on funds held at the bank. Those deposits are intended to remain interest-bearing, redeemable in pounds sterling and protected within the existing regulatory framework, including the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Monument says it currently serves more than 100,000 clients and has over £7 billion in savings deposits, giving the project a real balance-sheet base rather than a purely experimental starting point.
Midnight Foundation President Fahmi Syed used the deal to make a broader point about institutional blockchain adoption. Financial firms, he said, have struggled with the tension between openness and banking-grade confidentiality. Midnight, in his words, is designed to “represent assets on public networks” while protecting “sensitive financial information,” and Monument’s rollout is meant to show that regulated products can move on-chain without stepping outside existing compliance and consumer-protection frameworks.
The longer-term roadmap explains why Hoskinson is talking in terms of billions rather than the initial £250 million. Phase two would expand beyond tokenized deposits into tokenized investment products delivered through the Monument app, including access to private equity, commodity funds and structured products. Phase three would introduce Lombard-style lending, allowing clients to borrow against investments without selling them. Monument also said its technology affiliate aims to extend tokenized-deposit functionality to other institutions through its Banking-as-a-Service platform.
At press time, Cardano traded at $0.26.
