Monument Bank, a UK lender regulated by the Bank of England, announced it will tokenize up to £250 million ($335 million) in retail deposits on Midnight (NIGHT), Cardano (ADA) privacy-focused sidechain.
The move is the first time a UK-regulated bank has tokenized retail deposits on a public blockchain while maintaining deposit insurance protection.
The deposits will remain interest-bearing, fully backed in sterling, and covered under the UK's Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
Monument plans a three-phase rollout, starting with tokenized deposits, then adding tokenized investment products, and finally introducing blockchain-based lending against holdings.
First Regulated Bank Deployment on Public Chain
Monument, which manages approximately £7 billion in deposits across 100,000 customers, targets mass-affluent clients with £50,000 to £5 million in investable assets. Transaction data will remain visible only to the bank and customers through Midnight's zero-knowledge proof infrastructure.
Charles Hoskinson described the deal as "one of the largest we've ever done," projecting it could bring "hundreds of millions to billions" in total value locked to Midnight.
The sidechain's mainnet is scheduled to launch by the end of March 2026.
Monument's affiliate, Monument Technology, plans to extend the tokenized deposit infrastructure through its Banking-as-a-Service platform, potentially allowing other institutions to adopt the model.
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ADA Down 91% From 2021 Peak
Cardano's ADA token traded around $0.25 on March 28, down more than 91% from its September 2021 all-time high near $3.10.
DeFi protocols on Cardano hold $146 million in total value locked, compared to Ethereum's $76 billion and Solana's $8.7 billion.
The institutional banking adoption comes as Cardano faces persistent technical weakness. The token remains well below its November 2025 highs near $0.40 despite the Monument announcement.
Midnight operates as a partner chain to Cardano, using the base layer for security while enabling privacy-preserving applications through zero-knowledge technology.
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