Project Agorá, the blockchain payment system coordinated by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), is now entering its real-money testing phase. As a result, eight central banks and various financial institutions will test tokenized cross-border payments. Among them are JPMorgan Chase, UBS and Deutsche Bank.
At its core, Project Agorá is a shared "multi-currency unified ledger". On this single programmable platform, tokenized central bank reserves and tokenized commercial bank deposits converge. It is therefore not a public blockchain network, but a closed, regulated system of central banks and licensed banks. The BIS Innovation Hub in Basel launched the initiative in April 2024. Moreover, private-sector participation has run since May 2024, and the Institute of International Finance (IIF) coordinates it. In total, seven currency areas form part of the test. The system operates around the clock and settles transactions atomically on an all-or-nothing basis. Additionally, it allows conditional payment triggers via smart contracts. At the same time, it changes neither the legal status of the reserves nor the existing compliance controls.
The problem: why cross-border payments must be tokenized
Cross-border payments rank among the last major inefficiencies in the global financial system. Today, a transfer runs through so-called correspondent banking, a network of banks that hold accounts for one another and pass payments along a chain. A single transaction often passes through several institutions in different countries. Furthermore, each station has to reconcile the booking separately. This creates high costs, plus delays from differing business hours and time zones as well as compliance gaps between jurisdictions. As a result, significant delays can occur between sender and recipient.
Project Agorá targets exactly this weak point. Specifically, it forms part of the G20 roadmap, which aims to improve access, cost, speed and transparency of such payments. However, the correspondent banking network remains in place as a framework. The project therefore does not replace it, but makes settlement more efficient. The approach also has a history. In 2024, the BIS discontinued an earlier modernization project after concerns arose over the enforcement of Russian sanctions. Project Agorá is the successor approach and therefore integrates compliance explicitly into the architecture.
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How the tokenized cross-border payment prototype works
The technical centerpiece is the "multi-currency unified ledger". On this shared, programmable platform, tokenized central bank reserves and tokenized commercial bank deposits exist side by side. Today, by contrast, these values sit in separate systems of different banks and countries. Consequently, every transfer becomes a sequence of separate bookings. On a shared ledger, however, money and information can move in a single operation. The repeated reconciliation along the correspondent banking chain therefore disappears.
This leads to the second principle: atomic settlement. First, the banks exchange all the information of a transaction. Then the balances of all parties update simultaneously. Either the entire payment settles in full or not at all. Consequently, the risk of failed partial bookings disappears. Moreover, the system runs around the clock and is therefore no longer tied to the opening hours of individual markets. Conditional payment triggers via smart contracts complete the architecture. For example, a transfer executes automatically only once a predefined condition is met.
Notably, Agorá deliberately leaves the legal framework untouched. The legal status of central bank reserves and commercial deposits remains unchanged. Furthermore, the existing regulatory controls continue to apply despite tokenization: anti-money laundering (AML), countering the financing of terrorism (CFT), sanctions screening as well as applicable data protection rules. Compliance is thus not an add-on bolted on afterwards, but a design principle of the prototype.
"It is possible to use blockchain-based technologies to rethink the settlement of cross-border payments, using tokenized deposits to improve and simplify execution while maintaining the highest regulatory and operational safeguards." - Francisco Maroto, Head of Blockchain and Digital Assets, BBVA
Eight central banks, 40 commercial banks: who stands behind Project Agorá
Behind the project stands an unusually broad coalition of public institutions. Eight central banks participate and together cover seven currency areas. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York represents the US dollar, the Bank of England the British pound, the Banque de France the euro and the Bank of Japan the Japanese yen. In addition, the Banco de México covers the Mexican peso, the Swiss National Bank the Swiss franc and the Bank of Korea the Korean won. At the end of May 2026, the Bank of Canada joined as the eighth central bank. Meanwhile, the BIS Innovation Hub in Basel coordinates the work, and the Institute of International Finance brings together the private sector.
On the private side, more than 40 regulated financial institutions also take part. Among them are JPMorgan Chase, UBS Group AG, Deutsche Bank AG, BBVA as well as the payment networks Mastercard and Visa. The Spanish bank BBVA led the legal, regulatory, operational and governance analysis for the Mexican currency area. Meanwhile, individual institutions also pursue their own tokenization projects, for example JPMorgan with its in-house blockchain network. However, Agorá is the only multi-central-bank project of this breadth. It is therefore the most far-reaching attempt so far to unite several central banks and commercial banks on a shared infrastructure.
Real-money testing phase without a fixed deadline
With the prototype report from the end of May 2026, the project shifts from conceptual work to a practical trial. In the now announced real-money testing phase, real transactions run through the system instead of simulated scenarios. However, no fixed deadline exists. According to Tim Adams of the IIF, what matters is getting the project right rather than rushing it. Initial estimates from January 2026 cited a duration of around six months, which would mean the completion of a first phase in the first half of 2026. Subsequently, the results then go to policymakers.
The Bank of Canada itself frames Canada's entry within the broader objective. Tokenization has the potential to make such payments faster, cheaper, more efficient and safer, explained Carolyn Rogers, Senior Deputy Governor of the central bank. The timeline also illustrates the gradual progress. Launched in April 2024, Project Agorá first opened to the private sector in May 2024. Later, in September 2024, JPMorgan, UBS and other major banks confirmed their participation. With the report and the move into the real-money phase, the initiative now reaches its most concrete stage so far. Finally, whether this turns into a permanent settlement system depends on the outcome of the tests and the decision of the participating central banks.
