Project Agorá moves to real-value trials using a unified ledger. BIS aims to cut settlement times without replacing correspondent banking. Watch for results from JPMorgan, Visa, and 7 central banks.
The Bank for International Settlements is moving Project Agorá into a phase that uses real money. The initiative tests whether tokenization can make cross-border bank payments faster and cheaper while keeping compliance checks inside the existing financial system.
The Basel-based institution said the joint effort with seven central banks and more than 40 regulated private firms will now run actual transactions. The project was first announced two years ago. Participants include the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan, the Bank of Canada, and the Bank of England. Private-sector names include JPMorgan, UBS Group, Deutsche Bank, Mastercard, and Visa.
“It will benefit the entire financial system,” said Tim Adams, head of the Institute of International Finance, which helped coordinate the private-sector group.
The scale of the test matters. Seven central banks and over 40 regulated financial firms are participating. That breadth gives the BIS a realistic cross-section of the global payment system. The group includes both large commercial banks and payment networks that handle a significant share of wholesale cross-border flows.
The test phase will use actual transaction values. Earlier stages involved prototypes and simulations. Moving to real-value execution introduces operational risk, settlement risk, and compliance verification at scale.
At the center of the test is a unified ledger developed by the BIS. The system brings tokenized central bank reserves and tokenized commercial bank deposits onto a shared platform. In theory, that allows banks in different jurisdictions to settle transfers in seconds rather than days.
“Once you know you have everything to run the transaction, you settle it in one go,” said Andrea Maechler, deputy general manager of the BIS.
The prototype uses distributed-ledger technology, the BIS is not trying to replace the correspondent banking system. The project keeps it as the foundation for global payments. That distinction is critical.
Today’s cross-border payments move through a chain of correspondent banks. Each intermediary debits and credits accounts sequentially. That process introduces delays, multiple fees, and opacity in tracking.
Project Agorá’s unified ledger design flips that model. The settlement process is designed so that required transaction details are confirmed in advance. All bank balances are updated simultaneously once the payment executes. That eliminates the sequential debiting and crediting that slows the current system.
The unified ledger does not strip away sanctions screening or anti-money laundering checks. The BIS said the design preserves those controls by encoding compliance rules into the transaction logic. A payment cannot settle unless the preconditions are met. That means the system keeps the same regulatory guardrails as correspondent banking, just automated in the ledger.
Andrea Maechler said the approach ensures that “once you know you have everything to run the transaction, you settle it in one go.” The emphasis is on upfront verification, not post-trade reconciliation.
Correspondent banking remains the main channel for international bank transfers. It carries the compliance tools used to enforce sanctions and screen for illicit finance. The BIS said Project Agorá aims to preserve those controls while improving speed and efficiency.
If the test succeeds, tokenization could reduce the number of intermediaries in a typical cross-border payment without weakening safeguards. That would address a long-standing complaint from banks and corporates about cost and friction.
Visa and Mastercard are participants. Both companies already operate their own blockchain-based payment networks. Mastercard has its Multi-Token Network; Visa has tested tokenized deposits and stablecoin settlement. Project Agorá could give them a role in a central-bank-backed settlement layer that competes with or complements their own infrastructure.
Mastercard’s Alpha Score is 65/100 (label: Moderate, sector: Financials) on AlphaScala. The score reflects its positioning in the tokenization shift. A successful BIS pilot could accelerate demand for tokenized settlement services, benefiting Mastercard’s blockchain business. A failure or delay, however, would not directly harm its core processing revenue.
JPMorgan has its own blockchain unit (Onyx) and has tested tokenized deposits internally. The bank’s involvement in Project Agorá gives it a seat at the table if the BIS model becomes a standard. The direct financial exposure is minimal at the testing stage.
UBS and Deutsche Bank have explored digital assets for settlement and custody. UBS has tested its own tokenized money-market fund; Deutsche Bank has experimented with a tokenized deposit platform. A successful BIS test could accelerate their adoption of tokenized infrastructure.
The test is not a crypto project. It uses permissioned distributed ledger technology. If central banks and major banks adopt tokenized settlement, it could validate the underlying technology for traditional finance. That could reduce the narrative that blockchain is only for unregulated markets. It could also compete with permissionless networks if the BIS model proves more efficient for wholesale payments.
The BIS has not set a timeline for a full rollout. Tim Adams said participants are more focused on getting the system right than rushing toward launch. The test could take months or years before any production deployment.
Project Agorá is a concrete step toward blockchain-based settlement in the regulated banking system. The participants are among the most influential institutions in global finance. If the test works, it could reshape how cross-border payments are executed and settled. For now, the timeline is open-ended, and the risk of failure is real. Watch for updates from the BIS and the participating central banks on the trial’s progress.
For more on tokenization and crypto market trends, see AlphaScala’s crypto market analysis. Mastercard’s stock page is available at MA stock page.
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