Key facts
- Global banks successfully tested tokenized money for cross-border payments in a pilot led by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).
- The Project Agorá pilot involved 28 financial institutions and central banks, including JPMorgan, Citi, UBS, Deutsche Bank, and Standard Chartered.
- Approximately $1 million (CHF 800,000) in real-value transactions were processed across six currencies: USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, CHF, and KRW.
- Tokenized central bank reserves and commercial bank deposits were utilized for payments and foreign exchange settlements.
- Transactions settled in an average of 80 seconds on a shared ledger, enhancing traceability and reducing risks.
Global banks have successfully conducted real cross-border payments using tokenized money in a pilot program led by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). The initiative, dubbed Project Agorá, involved five central banks and 28 commercial lenders, including major institutions like JPMorgan Chase, Citi, UBS, Deutsche Bank, and Standard Chartered.
The pilot processed approximately $1 million (CHF 800,000) in transactions across six currencies: the U.S. dollar, euro, British pound, Japanese yen, Swiss franc, and South Korean won. Tokenized central bank reserves and commercial bank deposits were utilized to settle corporate, interbank, and foreign exchange transactions.
Transactions settled in an average of about 80 seconds on a shared ledger, a significant improvement over traditional correspondent banking models that often involve multiple intermediaries and separate record-keeping. This shared ledger approach enhances traceability and reduces the risks associated with simultaneous foreign exchange settlement, where one party might send money without receiving the corresponding currency.
The project aligns with a broader trend of increasing adoption of stablecoins and tokenized assets in global finance. Unlike private sector stablecoins, Project Agorá tokenizes traditional bank money. The banks involved reported that the platform worked alongside existing payment systems, rather than replacing them, and made tracking payments easier from start to finish.