A Bank for International Settlements-led trial has shown that tokenized central bank money and bank deposits can complete cross-border payments in a single atomic step across currencies.
Summary
- Project Agorá has shown that tokenized central bank reserves and bank deposits can settle cross-border payments atomically across currencies.
- More than 40 private institutions and seven central banks have joined the BIS effort, which has now moved toward real-value transaction tests.
- Separately, the BIS has warned that stablecoins and crypto exchange “earn” products can expose users to unsecured repayment risk.
According to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), Project Agorá has tested how tokenized central bank reserves and commercial bank deposits can settle transactions on an “all-or-nothing” basis, so neither side is left exposed if the other leg fails.
Project Agorá tests tokenized bank money
Under today’s system, the BIS said a cross-border transfer can pass through multiple intermediary banks before reaching the recipient, which can stretch settlement to days and add operational risk during reconciliation. In the Project Agorá design, the BIS and participants used tokenization and blockchain-style rails to reduce handoffs and complete settlement simultaneously across jurisdictions.
Project Agorá is a joint effort between the BIS, seven central banks, and more than 40 private financial institutions. The BIS said participating central banks include the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, and the Swiss National Bank, as well as major commercial banks and financial firms.
Project Agorá launched in April 2024 and spent about a year and a half in a design phase before moving into a prototype stage in 2025, the BIS said. Active testing began in January 2026, which the BIS described as the point where the initiative moved past concept work and into something closer to an operating system.
Participants now plan to move beyond simulations toward tests that involve real-value transactions using selected currencies and institutions, the BIS said. During the same week, the BIS said the Bank of Canada joined the initiative.
Tokenization efforts expand beyond payments
Outside the Agorá workstream, the BIS noted that financial market infrastructure providers and exchanges are building tokenized settlement systems for traditional securities. The BIS pointed to DTCC’s plan to roll out tokenized settlement infrastructure for stocks, ETFs, and U.S. Treasuries, while Nasdaq and Intercontinental Exchange are also developing blockchain-based systems for tokenized equities.
Project Agorá also sits alongside the G20’s cross-border payments roadmap set in 2020. The BIS framed Agorá as an attempt to show that unified ledgers and tokenization can deliver greater improvements than small changes to legacy payment plumbing.
BIS links payments research to crypto risk warnings
Even as it promotes research on tokenization, the BIS has maintained a cautious tone toward privately issued crypto instruments. The BIS has warned that stablecoins could create risks for the financial system and has urged faster progress on stablecoin regulation.
In addition, as previously reported by crypto.news last month, the BIS said crypto exchanges have operated as lightly regulated “shadow banks,” using customer deposits in ways that can increase leverage and contribute to large losses, including a $19 billion wipeout in 2025.
In that assessment, BIS noted that “earn” and savings-style products sold by exchanges function more like unsecured loans because platforms rehypothecate user assets into margin lending, proprietary trading, and market making.
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