The important of cross-border payments cannot be underestimated. They are essential for facilitating international trade, promoting economic growth, supporting globalisation and enhancing financial inclusion, driving innovation. Combined, these factors contribute to a more dynamic and interconnected global economy.
With this in mind, the launch of Project Agorá from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is a significant and positive step forward. Underscoring the importance of collaboration between central banks and the private sector, it has the potential to transform cross border payments and the wider monetary system. Project Agorá; an overview Named after the Greek word for ‘marketplace, Project Agorá is led by seven central banks, including the Bank of France, Bank of Japan, and Bank of England.
It was created to explore how tokenization of wholesale central bank money and commercial bank deposits on programmable platforms can improve the monetary system and reshape global transactions. It’s launch follows the successful conclusion of BIS’ Project Mariana in late 2023, which explored the cross-border settlement capabilities of wholesale central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and builds on the BIS’ “unified ledger” model announced the same year, which proposes a structure where tokenized deposits, central bank money, and other tokenized assets are available in one decentralized ledger. Working with private financial firms, the seven central bank.