Polygon Digital Pound Lab Role Kicks Off in Phase 2

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The Bank confirmed the group on its Lab participant page. That page now lists NOBO Finance “in collaboration with Dun & Bradstreet and Polygon.” Polygon announced the news first, in a blog post dated 11 August. Its main account then posted on 12 August. So the crypto-native framing came from Polygon. The Bank simply names the consortium.

What the Polygon Digital Pound Lab Work Covers

The consortium will test two things inside the Lab. First, it will model cross-border stablecoin settlement for trade finance. Second, it will build an SME “Bankable Profile.” That profile is a portable credit identity for small exporters.

In the settlement test, the stablecoin leg runs on Polygon’s Open Money Stack. The digital-pound leg settles only inside the Lab’s simulation. For example, an exporter could take a stablecoin advance against an invoice. A UK importer would then settle in simulated digital pounds. That means two forms of money moving in one flow, public and private.

The second workstream targets a familiar pain point. Many small firms cannot prove they are creditworthy across borders. Trade finance carries a funding gap often estimated near $2.5 trillion. So the Bankable Profile pulls together wallet activity, open-finance data, and Dun & Bradstreet intelligence. Here Polygon provides the on-chain rails. Those rails handle verifiable records, consent, and the deal lifecycle.

What the Digital Pound Lab Actually Is

The Digital Pound Lab is an experimental platform. That distinction matters a great deal. It is not a regulatory sandbox. There are no real customers, no real money, and no live settlement.

Instead, firms and the Bank prototype payment flows, wallets, and interoperability. They do it in a controlled simulation. The goal is to inform design decisions, not to launch a product. So the Polygon Digital Pound Lab tests stay experimental. Inclusion does not imply Bank approval of any firm.

The Lab launched around August 2025. Phase 1 ran from August to November 2025 with four participants. NOBO already joined that round, testing conditional B2B payments with Applied Blockchain. Phase 2 runs from late 2025 to July 2026. It now lists about 12 participants. They span identity, payments, and trade use cases.

Why the Interoperability Signal Matters

The pitch here is interoperability. It links central bank money and private stablecoins. Marc Boiron, CEO of Polygon Labs, framed it directly in the announcement.

“For digital money to actually move the world’s trade, its different forms have to work together: public and private, central bank money and stablecoins. This experiment tests exactly that. Interoperability is what gets value moving, and it’s what our Open Money Stack is built to enable.”

Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal took a broader tone on X. “For a decade the story was onchain versus the banks,” he wrote. “But it was never us vs the banks. We win together or not at all.” He signed off with one word: “Inevitable!”

NOBO frames its role around trust for small traders. Ayo Ojerinola, CEO of NOBO Finance, told CryptoBriefing that trust starts with data. “Smoother trade finance for SMEs depends on trust, and that starts with reliable business identity and risk data,” he said. So the consortium splits neatly. Polygon supplies the rails, NOBO supplies the platform, and Dun & Bradstreet supplies the data.

Reality Check: A Lab Is Not Adoption

Selection for a simulation is not live adoption. The market treated it that way. POL, Polygon’s token, traded near $0.075 to $0.076 around 11 and 12 August. Daily moves stayed within about 1 to 2 percent. So there was no clear announcement spike.

Trading volume sat in the mid-tens of millions of dollars. Market cap held near $800 million. Reports also showed no meaningful change in total value locked. In short, the price impact was negligible. This is not financial advice.

The wider caveats matter just as much. The Bank still targets a 2026 assessment with HM Treasury. A decision on whether to issue a digital pound remains open. Even if it proceeds, issuance would not arrive until the second half of the decade. It would also need new legislation first.

What Comes Next for the Digital Pound Lab

Phase 2 wraps up in July 2026. A showcase could follow, as it did after Phase 1. Results from the Polygon Digital Pound Lab work will feed the joint Bank and HM Treasury review. Yet the format and timing for publishing this group’s findings are not confirmed.

For now, the takeaway is measured. A major blockchain firm is testing how stablecoins and a simulated digital pound might settle trade together. That is a real signal about where central banks are exploring. The money, for now, is not.