UK asset manager Baillie Gifford, which has more than £286 billion in assets, is using Ethereum as the legal ownership register for a regulated UK fund. The blockchain is the official ledger for the fund, not a mirror of another record.
The fund is the Enhanced Yield Fund, ticker BAGEY. It is being described as the first fully native, UK-regulated tokenized fund to maintain its ownership register on Ethereum.
What Baillie Gifford actually built
Most tokenized funds to date have used two ledgers. A traditional transfer agent keeps the official record off-chain, while a blockchain token serves as a digital twin of that record.
BAGEY does away with that arrangement. Its tokens are the legal representation of investors’ interests in the fund. If the blockchain shows that you hold units, you hold units.
The fund was announced on June 22, 2026. Units were initially made available on Solana, and minting on Ethereum began on August 5, 2026.
BAGEY is therefore a multi-chain product, at least for distribution. Ethereum is drawing particular attention because it serves as the register of record.
The fund’s terms and the institutions behind it
The underlying strategy is fairly traditional. The fund holds government and corporate bonds and targets a yield of approximately 7%.
Investors can trade daily. The minimum investment for eligible investors is $100. The fund is intended for professional investors in jurisdictions including the UK, Switzerland and the Cayman Islands.
BNY Mellon provides tokenization and wallet infrastructure, including token creation and management of the accounts that hold the tokens.
NatWest Trustee and Depositary Services serves as the fund’s depositary. In UK fund structures, the depositary is the independent party responsible for overseeing the fund’s operation and safeguarding its assets.
The rule change that made it possible
This followed the Financial Conduct Authority’s policy statement PS26/7, published on April 30, 2026.
PS26/7 explains how distributed ledger technology may be used within authorized fund structures. Specifically, it permits DLT-based unitholder registers in OEIC structures.
An OEIC, or open-ended investment company, is a standard UK fund structure that issues and cancels shares as investors join or leave. Its unitholder register lists who owns the shares.
The FCA said the register could be maintained on a blockchain. Baillie Gifford launched its fund within months of the guidance, with roughly two months between the policy statement and the first announcement.
What this means for asset managers and crypto infrastructure
For Ethereum, the significance is less about price than its role. A public blockchain acting as the legal source of truth for a regulated UK fund shifts it from settlement experiment toward official record keeping.
The multi-chain aspect is also notable. Distributing on Solana while registering on Ethereum suggests managers may view blockchains as interchangeable rails rather than choosing a single home.
Investors still face open questions. The approximately 7% figure is a target, not a guarantee, and a bond portfolio carries interest rate and credit risk regardless of which ledger records ownership.
Access remains limited. The $100 minimum lowers the financial barrier, but eligibility is restricted to professional investors in specific jurisdictions, so the product is not a retail on-ramp.
