Project Agorá is giving the BIS its clearest evidence yet that tokenised bank money could be the answer to improving cross‑border payments.
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has confirmed tokenised bank deposits and tokenised central bank reserves can settle wholesale cross‑border payments safely.
The findings were published in the latest update on Project Agorá, the BIS‑led initiative testing whether tokenised money and programmable settlement can fix problems in the banking system.
According to the report, the prototype processed multi‑currency payments using tokenised forms of existing money, proving that cross‑border settlement can run on existing banking assets without altering how banks issue or hold funds.
The BIS said the system was able to complete settlement in ‘one go‘, removing the delays and mismatches that sometimes occur when payments move through several intermediaries.
More than 40 financial institutions took part in the project, as well as seven central banks. The BIS also confirmed the next phase will involve real‑value transactions, with the Bank of Canada joining the group as testing continues.
How the prototype works
Project Agorá is built around a two-layer system, with tokenised commercial bank deposits on one layer and tokenised central bank reserves on the other, while each central bank operates its own ledger.
This structure allows countries to keep full control over their own currencies, while still plugging into a shared infrastructure for cross-border settlement.
The prototype uses smart contracts to automate processes that would otherwise rely on manual checks and messaging between banks. Compliance rules, payment conditions and workflow logic can all be embedded directly into the transaction itself, aiming to reduce friction across the chain.
One of the key findings of the report is that compliance checks can now run in at the same time.
In payments, sanctions screening, AML checks and fraud controls are usually done one after another, which slows payments down and can increase false positives. The BIS said running these checks at the same time could remove one of the main bottlenecks in correspondent banking.
The system was also able to settle transactions in seconds once liquidity was locked, and is designed to run on a 24/7 basis. Privacy is ensured through a mix of token-level protections and permissioned transaction groups, which means sensitive data is only visible to relevant participants.
Agorá also uses global data standards such as LEIs and ISO 20022 messaging, and it tested confirmation‑of‑payee checks for cross‑border payments.
What Agorá proves, and what’s still to come
Analysis in the report concluded that settlement can be recognised across all seven participating jurisdictions – the UK, US, euro area (via France), Japan, South Korea, Mexico and Switzerland – though further work is needed to align technical and contractual requirements.
BIS says the model also reduces failed payments by checking and aligning data before liquidity is committed, lowering the need for reversals and manual fixes.
The next phase of Project Agorá will focus on real‑value testing, coordinated AML and sanctions checks, liquidity‑saving tools and governance frameworks for a potential production‑grade platform.
Central banks and private‑sector participants, such as Citi, HSBC, JPMorgan, BNP Paribas and Santander, have expressed “strong and sustained interest” in continuing the work.
This update could also have huge implications for the future of tokenised money in general, with the BIS previously being quite outspoken about stablecoins.
In past reports, the organisation has argued that stablecoins fall short as reliable money and could create risks for global financial stability because their value depends on private issuers and reserve assets that may not always be transparent or dependable.
Speaking at a seminar hosted by the Bank of Japan in April, Pablo Hernández de Cos, General Manager of the BIS, said that while stablecoins offer technological advantages, they lack the core characteristics required of a widely accepted means of payment.
“As I will stress, stablecoins have several potential use cases and offer attractive technological features which can enable integration with smart contracts and faster cross-border payments,” he said. “However, the market remains small, and structural features… constrain their moneyness.”
Project Agorá alternatively focuses on tokenised versions of existing bank deposits and central bank reserves, keeping money within the traditional banking system while still using blockchain-style infrastructure.
