BIS Project Agorá Completes Real-Value Tokenized Cross-Border Payment Tests
Quick Look
- The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) announced Project Agorá successfully completed real-value testing of tokenized wholesale cross-border payments.
- The trials involved 28 financial institutions and central banks, settling 800,000 Swiss francs across 17 scenarios with an average settlement time of 80 seconds.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Project Agorá, a BIS initiative launched in 2024, aims to explore how tokenized commercial bank deposits and central bank reserves can improve cross-border wholesale payments.
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said Project Agorá completed real-value testing of tokenized wholesale cross-border payments, with 28 financial institutions and central banks settling 800,000 Swiss francs ($1 million) across 17 transaction scenarios.
The BIS said Thursday that the tests used tokenized central bank reserves and commercial bank deposits to settle payments in Swiss francs, euros, pounds sterling, Japanese yen, South Korean won and US dollars, with an average settlement time of about 80 seconds.
Participants included the Bank of England, Bank of France, Bank of Japan, Bank of Korea and the Swiss National Bank, alongside commercial banks including JPMorgan Chase, Citi, Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, UBS, Standard Chartered and MUFG.
Project Agorá is a BIS initiative launched in 2024 to explore how tokenized commercial bank deposits and central bank reserves can improve cross-border wholesale payments. In May, the project reported that its prototype demonstrated atomic settlement across multiple currencies and jurisdictions.
The BIS said the July trials marked an important milestone and that testing will continue as Project Agorá progresses.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Project Agorá will continue its testing phases.
Very likely · Within months
Open Questions
- What are the next steps for Project Agorá?
- What specific challenges were encountered during testing?
- When is full implementation expected?
