DLT Innovation Challenge – terms of participation

Timeline

The DLT Innovation Challenge will be held in September and October 2025. Applications via the expression of interest will close on 23 July 2025. Participants will be notified by late August 2025. The process will consist of:

• evaluation & shortlisting: a panel of experts from the Hosts will assess submitted applications against the criteria outlined in Annex 2 below and select participants.
• challenge execution: selected Participants will attend an initial virtual meeting with the Hosts to help them prepare for the Challenge. Selected participants will undertake a series of four, one-hour deep dives with the Hosts on certain aspects of their solution to the problem statement. 
• evaluation and showcase: selected participants may be invited to present at an in-person showcase event to be held at a London venue and be asked to demo on all or certain aspects. 

Confidentiality

The Bank is committed to being transparent about its work, including the operation of the Challenge.

The Bank will disclose (e.g. on the Bank’s website) names of Participants, unless Participants notify the Hosts in advance (in writing) that they prefer their names to not be disclosed.

Participants should inform the Hosts, in writing and in advance, of any information shared with the Hosts as part of the Challenge which they consider to be confidential and highlight why they believe it to be confidential. Such information will be treated as “Confidential Information” for the purposes of these Terms of Participation. 

Participants shall treat as confidential any non-public information shared with them and shall not disclose such information to third parties without the prior written consent of the party that owns the information. 

Participants may be exposed to non-public information during their participation in the Challenge. Under no circumstances should market sensitive information be shared in the Challenge. Participants are reminded of their legal obligations in relation to material non-public information, including under the UK Market Abuse Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 596/2014).

It is also the responsibility of any Participant to ensure that they are satisfied with the level of protection for any information shared by them. If they are not satisfied, then it is the Participant’s responsibility to not share any such information.

Where Confidential Information is disclosed by a party (whether that be the Hosts, the Participant and/or a another third party) in the course of their participation in the Challenge, the receiving party (whether that be the Hosts or the Participant and/or a another third party) agrees to: (i) keep Confidential Information confidential and safeguard it accordingly; (ii) use the Confidential Information only for the purposes of the Challenge and not use or exploit it in any other way including but not limited to their competitive and/or market advantage; (iii) not directly or indirectly disclose or make available any Confidential Information in whole or in part to any person, except as expressly permitted in writing by the owner of the Confidential Information; (iv) not to copy, reduce to writing or otherwise record Confidential Information except as strictly necessary for the purposes of the Challenge. The receiving party must ensure that in the event it shares Confidential Information with a third party (e.g. its lawyer or agent), such third party complies with the above terms as well.

The confidentiality obligations shall not apply where: (i) disclosure is a requirement of the law placed upon either of the Hosts, the Participant and/or a another third party including any requirements for disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act or the Environmental Information Regulations; (ii) the Confidential Information was in the possession of the party making the disclosure without breaching any obligation of confidentiality; (iii) the Confidential  Information was obtained from a third party without breaching any obligation of confidentiality; (iv) the Confidential Information was already in the public domain at the time of disclosure other than by a breach of these Terms of Participation; (v) the Confidential Information was independently developed without access to the other party’s confidential information.

These confidentiality obligations shall survive the termination or expiration of the Challenge.

Conflicts of interest, competition law and information-sharing

Participants are responsible for identifying and declaring any conflicts of interest that may arise from participating in the Challenge, without delay. The Bank will decide how the conflict should be managed, which may include in limited circumstances, excluding or suspending the Participant in question from the Challenge.

It is the responsibility of each Participant to ensure they understand and comply with their obligations under all applicable competition law. To the extent that any Participant is unclear about these, they should seek legal advice and if appropriate arrange to undertake competition law compliance training/seek further guidance at their respective organisations. 

Particular care will need to be exercised in order to make sure that Participants (and their representatives) familiarise themselves with the concept of competitively sensitive information and do not unilaterally disclose or exchange it under any circumstance.

External communications, and use of name, acronym or logo

Participants shall not without the prior written consent of the Bank, the BIS and/or other Participants, use the name, acronyms or logos/brand of any of the other parties in any promotion, marketing, announcements relating to the Challenge. Where the use of names, acronyms or logos/brand is permitted, the Bank, the BIS and/or each Participant shall provide to the other party/parties, their name or brand in a format to be used for the purpose permitted.

Participants may, with the prior written consent of the Hosts (which the Hosts will not unreasonably withhold) make public statements about their work in the Challenge. 

Participants agree that they shall not: (i) make any public statements about the Challenge which implies that they are speaking on behalf of the Hosts, on any future policy of the Hosts; or (ii) conduct themselves in such a way as to imply or express any approval or endorsement by the Hosts of any products or services which they are testing in the Challenge. 

Any statement referencing a Participant’s own participation in the Challenge must be clearly attributable to the Participant alone and indicate that it does not necessarily reflect the views of the Hosts.

Intellectual Property Rights (‘IPR’)

 The Hosts shall not acquire any right, title, or interest, in or to the Participant’s IPRs, including any pre-existing IPR and any solutions use or developed for the Challenge.

The Participant grants to the Hosts a perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide and sub-licensable licence, to use (including but not limited to the right to transmit, display and publicise) the Participant’s IPRs as necessary for the purposes of the Challenge. For the purposes of this licence, IPR may include but is not limited to, intellectual property rights contained in feedback and insights provided by Participants. 

Participants agree that the Hosts will have the right (i) to use information or feedback and insights shared by Participants as part of their participation in the Challenge and to make such information, which is not considered Confidential Information, publicly available (e.g. on the Hosts websites), for example, in the form of reports and videos describing the solution and the findings of the Challenge. 

The confidentiality section has more detail on how confidential information should be managed.

The Participant warrants that it has the power, authority, and right: (i) to use the solution as intended by the Challenge without infringing or violating the rights (including intellectual property rights) of any third party; and (ii) for the Hosts to benefit from the solution and/or information provided by the Participant as anticipated by these Terms of Participation without infringing or violating the rights (including intellectual property rights) of any third party. The Participant warrants that it will not knowingly, wilfully, or negligently cause the Hosts to be in breach of any third party’s intellectual property rights or other rights through the Hosts’ use of the solution as anticipated by these Terms of Participation.

The Participant shall indemnify and shall keep indemnified the Hosts against all claims, actions, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including all interest, penalties, and legal and other professional costs) which the Hosts may suffer or incur as a result of or in connection with any breach of these intellectual property provisions.

Data protection

Each party (Hosts and Participant) agrees that it shall duly observe all its obligations under the applicable data protection legislation.

Where the Participant shares personal data with the Bank in its participation in the Challenge, the Bank shall process the personal data in line with its respective privacy notice (Annex 3).

Term and termination

The term of the Challenge will end with the in-person event in London (which is planned to be held on 21 October 2025). 

The Bank may terminate, with immediate effect, a Participant’s involvement in the Challenge where the Participant commits a material or repeated breach of the Terms of Participation and: (i) the breach is capable of remedy but the Participant has not remedied the breach to the satisfaction of the Bank within an agreed period; or (ii) the breach is not capable of remedy.

Disclaimer

The Hosts, their staff, officials, or representatives are not responsible for any views or statements expressed by Participants of the Challenge, nor are the views expressed by the Participants in their outputs a reflection of the views of the Hosts. The activities, discussions, and outputs of the Challenge should not be taken as an indication of future policy by the Hosts. The Hosts’ policy positions will continue to be developed and communicated in accordance with the usual governance and public consultation procedures of their respective organisations.

General provisions

These Terms of Participation have been issued by the Bank, and they shall apply to Participants for the duration of the Challenge unless and until such time as the Bank exercises its right to terminate a Participant’s involvement due to a breach. Any provisions that expressly or by implication continue to be in force on or after the termination or expiry of the Terms of Participation shall remain in full force and effect.

The Bank reserves the right to amend these Terms of Participation at any time by giving the Participants reasonable notice in writing. Updated Terms of Participation will be provided to all Participants.

These Terms of Participation shall be governed by English law and the parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts to settle all such disputes or claims.

Participants will use their own environment to develop their solutions. Participants acknowledge and agree that any costs associated with their participation in the Challenge are borne by the respective Participant.

Annex 1: Selection criteria

Applications to participate in the Challenge will be judged on the quality of their responses to the criteria set out in Annex 2. These criteria include:

• Demonstrable relevant experience in developing solutions using distributed ledger technology, and/ or in facilitation of payments or stablecoin issuance.
• Sufficient resources to dedicate to the requirements of participating in the Challenge (as outlined above)
• The ability to describe how the participant’s solution will address the problem statement, specifically addressing the below in detail:
  • Settlement finality and security: ensuring secure, irreversible settlement of central bank money through tamper-proof transactions, controlled issuance, and protection against theft or unauthorised access.
  • Scalability: demonstrating how DLT handles high transaction volumes with low latency, supports efficient consensus, and scales both technically and economically with payments and liquidity efficiency.
  • Network and asset control: exploring how DLT governs digital assets, enforces programmable access and compliance, and balances decentralisation with regulatory requirements and reconciliation.
  • Interoperability: how DLT facilitates seamless communication between diverse financial systems, protocol compatibility and cross-network functionality

A panel of experts will be assembled from both the Hosts to assess submitted applications. Selected participants will be notified in writing of their participation. The selection decision is at the discretion of the Hosts and shall not be subject to appeal.

Annex 2: Expression of interest

To apply to take part in the DLT Innovation Challenge, please submit answers to the following questions to: DLTInnovationChallenge@bankofengland.co.uk by 23 July 2025. 

• Name and email address of lead applicant
• Organisation represented
• Please provide a brief introduction to your company or organisation, including relevant experience in developing solutions using distributed ledger technology, and/ or in facilitation of payments or stablecoin issuance (max. 250 words)
• Please provide a brief bio of individuals who will be involved in participating in the deep dives with the Bank of England and BIS Innovation Hub: 
• Please provide a brief description of your solution to the problem statement (max. 400 words excluding diagrams) 
• Please provide answers to the below questions (max. 300 words per question excluding diagrams)
  • How does your solution make sure that once a transaction is completed, it can’t be changed or undone? Please explain how your system prevents unauthorised asset creation, guarantees final settlement at a technical level, supports legal recognition of completed transactions, and allows for clear and reliable records that can be audited if needed. 
  • How does your solution handle large numbers of transactions quickly and reliably? Please describe how your system is designed to scale efficiently, work well with other technologies or blockchains, keep data available when needed, and maintain a fair level of decentralisation as it grows. 
  • How is governance structured in your solution, and how are decisions like upgrades or dispute resolution managed? Please explain how you ensure validator accountability, protect against security threats, and enforce asset-level controls. Include how your system supports compliance, identity verification, and both custodial and non-custodial asset models. 
  • How does your solution connect with existing systems and support reliable, real-time performance? Please explain how it integrates with non-blockchain technologies, meets industry standards, ensures resilience and supports reconciliation. 

Annex 3: Privacy notice

The Bank will collect the name, work email address, job title and name of organisation from individuals who submit an application on behalf of their organisation, as well as individuals who will participate in the Challenge. The Bank may also collect some of this information from individuals who are nominated to represent their organisation in the Challenge. Additionally, if selected as a Participant, the Bank may use your contact details and requirements to help organise and facilitate your attendance to the Challenge that will be held during September and October 2025, and the Bank may share such information with the BIS for the purpose of organising the Challenge.

The Bank may also collect views, opinions and further personal data where this is shared either verbally or in writing (e.g. by using a ‘chat’ function) by individuals participating in online meetings or submitting feedback forms.

Where the Bank processes personal data for the purposes of the Challenge, the Bank will use the information for the purpose of reviewing and assessing applications to become a Participant in the Challenge, to communicate with Participants of the Challenge, and to advance the purposes of the Challenge as set out more fully in these Terms of Participation. This includes contacting unsuccessful Participants when subsequent opportunities for participating in the Challenge arise. 

Personal data will also be shared with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) for the purposes of facilitating events and reviewing findings.

The Bank will retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, after which it will be securely deleted or anonymised in accordance with the Bank’s data retention policies.

You have a number of rights under data protection laws. For more information about how the Bank processes personal data or to contact the Bank about those rights, including making a request for the personal data the Bank holds about you or to request that we no longer use your personal data, please see the Bank’s Privacy Notice. You can find more information about how the BIS processes personal data.