The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has announced that Project Agorá successfully completed real-value testing of tokenized wholesale cross-border payments. The initiative involved 28 financial institutions and central banks that settled 800,000 Swiss francs, approximately $1 million, across 17 transaction scenarios. The tests were designed to demonstrate how tokenized central bank reserves and commercial bank deposits can streamline international settlement.
According to the BIS, the trials settled payments in Swiss francs, euros, British pounds sterling, Japanese yen, South Korean won and US dollars. The average settlement time was about 80 seconds, significantly faster than traditional correspondent banking processes that can take days. The results mark a notable step toward modernizing the infrastructure that underpins global wholesale payments.
What is Project Agorá?
Project Agorá was launched by the BIS in 2024 as part of a broader effort to explore the potential of tokenized assets in the financial system. The project's name draws from the ancient Greek agora, a public space for exchange and debate, reflecting the initiative's goal of creating a more open and efficient financial architecture. The project focuses on wholesale payments, which are high-value transactions conducted between financial institutions, rather than retail payments made by consumers.
The core idea behind Agorá is to use tokenized commercial bank deposits alongside tokenized central bank reserves. Tokenization is the process of representing real-world assets, such as money, on a programmable ledger. In this model, a commercial bank deposit is converted into a digital token that can be transferred and settled in a secure and transparent way, while central bank reserves serve as the ultimate settlement asset.
This approach is often referred to as a unified or programmable ledger. Unlike traditional systems, where payment instructions and settlement assets move through separate channels and require reconciliation by multiple intermediaries, a unified ledger can combine the payment instruction and the asset transfer in a single operation. This can reduce the need for manual intervention, lower the risk of errors, and make cross-border transactions faster and cheaper.
Key results from the July trials
The BIS said the July trials involved real-value settlement, meaning actual funds were moved rather than simulated. Participating institutions tested a variety of transaction scenarios, including payments made directly between two commercial banks, payments routed through a central bank, and transactions that required simultaneous settlement in multiple currencies. The average settlement time of approximately 80 seconds was consistent across these scenarios, according to the BIS.
The trials also tested the ability to settle transactions atomically. In a tokenized system, atomic settlement means that the transfer of one asset is conditional on the transfer of another asset. Either both legs of the transaction are completed, or neither is completed. This eliminates the risk that one party sends funds but the other party fails to deliver, a long-standing problem in cross-border payments known as settlement risk, or Herstatt risk.
The BIS and its partners had previously reported success with a prototype in May 2026. That prototype demonstrated atomic settlement across multiple currencies and jurisdictions in a controlled environment. The July trials moved from prototype to real-value testing, adding a layer of operational complexity. The participants had to comply with the legal and regulatory requirements of six different currency jurisdictions, while also coordinating with their own internal compliance, risk, and technology teams.
Who participated?
The list of participants included some of the world's most important central banks. The Bank of England, Bank of France, Bank of Japan, Bank of Korea, and Swiss National Bank all took part. The Bank of France is part of the Eurosystem and represented the euro area, along with the Bank of France's role as a central bank for the euro. The Bank for International Settlements itself also participated as the facilitator of the project.
On the commercial side, the trials included major global banks such as JPMorgan Chase, Citi, Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, UBS, Standard Chartered, and MUFG. These banks represent a large share of cross-border payment flows, particularly in the currencies tested. Their participation is important because commercial banks are the primary users of wholesale payment systems and the main providers of cross-border payment services to corporations and other clients.
The mix of central banks and commercial banks was deliberate. The BIS has emphasized that central banks and the private sector need to cooperate to build the next generation of payment infrastructure. Central banks provide the trusted settlement asset, while commercial banks bring customer relationships, liquidity, and operational expertise. Project Agorá is one of the most visible examples of this public-private cooperation.
Why cross-border payments are difficult
Cross-border payments have long been considered one of the most difficult areas of finance to modernize. When a business makes a payment to a supplier in another country, the payment often passes through multiple correspondent banks. Each bank may operate its own ledger system, with different operating hours, time zones, and regulatory requirements. The payment may also need to be converted into a different currency, adding further complexity.
As a result, cross-border transactions can take two to five days to settle. They are also expensive, with the World Bank estimating that the global average cost of sending remittances was around 6.35% as of the first quarter of 2025. While wholesale payments are typically cheaper than retail remittances, the cost of cross-border wholesale transactions is still significant when multiplied by the trillions of dollars that move each day.
Another problem is settlement risk. In traditional correspondent banking, the payment instruction and the final transfer of funds are separate. A bank may send a payment instruction to its correspondent, but the confirming credit to the beneficiary's account may not happen until later. This creates a window of time during which one party is exposed to the risk that the other party may fail. Tokenized atomic settlement has the potential to eliminate this risk.
Tokenization also offers the possibility of programmability. Programmable money can be embedded with conditions, such as the requirement that goods be delivered before payment is released. This could enable new forms of trade finance and supply chain financing that are not practical with traditional payment rails. The BIS has noted that these possibilities are part of the broader motivation for Project Agorá.
The broader context of tokenized payments
Project Agorá is not the only initiative exploring tokenized payments. Central banks around the world have been conducting experiments with central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, for both retail and wholesale use. The People's Bank of China has deployed the digital yuan in trials, while the European Central Bank is preparing for a digital euro. The BIS itself has coordinated multiple projects, including Project mBridge for cross-border payments among participating central banks and Project Guardian in collaboration with the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Private sector initiatives have also advanced. JPMorgan's JPM Coin, for instance, has been used for intraday repurchase agreements and institutional payments. Other banks have launched their own digital token systems or participated in industry consortia. The stablecoin market has also grown substantially, with regulated issuers such as Circle and Paxos offering dollar-pegged tokens that are used in digital asset markets and, increasingly, in traditional payment channels.
The BIS has generally taken a cautious stance toward private stablecoins, warning that they may pose risks to monetary sovereignty and financial stability. At the same time, the BIS recognizes the potential of dual-asset models that combine tokenized central bank money and private commercial bank money. Project Agorá is an attempt to preserve the best of both worlds: the credibility of central bank money and the innovation of the private sector.
Recent comments from former BIS officials have suggested a softening of the institution's position toward stablecoins. Some former executives have said that stablecoins and central bank backed tokenized deposits could coexist with fiat currencies, providing different benefits for different use cases. This shift in tone reflects the rapid evolution of the tokenized payment ecosystem and the need for central banks to engage with, rather than ignore, the changes happening in the market.
What happens next
The BIS said that testing will continue as Project Agorá progresses. The next phases may involve a larger set of transaction types, a broader group of participating institutions, and possibly the integration of additional currencies. The project may also explore the use of tokenized securities and other financial instruments, extending the concept of a unified ledger beyond payment transactions.
The July trials are not the end of the road. The BIS and its partners will need to consider the operational, legal, and governance frameworks required to move from experimental testing to real-world deployment. Questions such as who operates the infrastructure, how access is determined, and how the system interoperates with existing payment networks will need to be answered. The participating central banks and commercial banks will also need to align on standards for tokenization and data sharing.
One important area for future research is the design of the tokenized central bank reserve itself. Central banks are likely to issue tokenized reserves only to a restricted set of commercial banks, similar to the way they currently hold accounts for banks. The rules governing the issuance, transfer, and destruction of those tokens will be critical. Another area is the treatment of privacy and anti-money laundering requirements. The BIS has said that tokenized payments should not offer anonymity, and that compliance with financial crime regulations must be preserved.
For commercial banks, the transition to tokenized cross-border payments will require significant investment in technology and operations. Many banks already have digital asset teams and blockchain capabilities, but integrating those with legacy core banking systems is a complex task. The payoff could be substantial: faster settlement, lower costs, reduced risk, and the ability to offer new products to corporate clients.
The results of the July trials will be studied closely by central banks and financial institutions around the world. While the total value settled was modest in the context of global payment flows, the successful execution of real-value transactions in six currencies marks a new level of maturity for tokenized wholesale payments. The progress of Project Agorá in the coming months will provide important signals about the future of cross-border settlement infrastructure.
Source:Cointelegraph News