Over 40 institutions join Bank for International Settlements' new project to explore 'tokenization of cross-border payments'

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) announced that over 40 financial institutions will participate in its "Project Agor á" project. The project aims to explore how tokenization technology can be applied to cross-border payments. BIS announced on Monday that these financial institutions were selected after a public solicitation in May, and the project has now entered the design phase.

Tokenization "refers to the digitization of real-world assets, and this emerging technology is being actively explored by multiple countries and financial institutions in order to maximize its potential. BIS launched "Project Agor á" in April this year, which brings together seven monetary authorities from the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Switzerland, the United States, and Europe.

BIS stated on its website that this project is based on its concept of a unified ledger and will investigate how to seamlessly integrate tokenized commercial bank deposits with tokenized wholesale central bank currency, forming a programmable core financial platform through public-private partnerships. BIS emphasizes:

This major public-private partnership will aim to address various structural inefficiencies in the current payment system, particularly in cross-border payments

In addition, BIS hopes to overcome the challenges in cross-border payments through this project, including the legal, regulatory, and technical requirements of different countries, as well as the varying operating hours in different regions.