BBVA has participated in the validation phase of Project Agorá, an international initiative exploring how tokenized money and blockchain-based infrastructure could modernise wholesale cross-border payments. The project demonstrated that programmable financial architectures can improve settlement efficiency between jurisdictions while maintaining the security, legal integrity, and regulatory oversight required by central banks and financial institutions.
The initiative is being coordinated through a public-private collaboration led by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the Institute of International Finance (IIF). Alongside BBVA, the project includes seven central banks and more than 40 international financial institutions working to test new models for global settlement systems.
The latest findings confirmed the technical and legal feasibility of conducting settlements using tokenized central bank reserves and tokenized commercial bank deposits across multiple currencies and jurisdictions. Future phases of the project are expected to move toward real-value transaction testing.
One of the key outcomes of the initiative was the successful validation of atomic settlement capabilities. The model enables transactions to settle simultaneously between parties on an all-or-nothing basis, reducing counterparty and settlement risks that traditionally affect cross-border wholesale payments.
To support this structure, Project Agorá tested an interoperable layered architecture designed to allow central banks to maintain control and autonomy over their domestic currencies while still participating within a shared settlement environment.
The project also demonstrated that transaction confidentiality and account balance privacy can be preserved through privacy-enhancing technologies while still supporting regulatory compliance requirements. According to the findings, the tokenization framework does not alter the legal characteristics or obligations attached to central bank reserves or commercial bank deposits.
Settlement testing was conducted across the currencies of seven participating jurisdictions, including the Eurozone, United States, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Mexico, Japan, and South Korea. The report noted that broader implementation would still require technical, operational, and contractual adaptation to align with individual national regulatory frameworks.
The project highlights growing momentum among global financial institutions and central banks to explore tokenized settlement infrastructure as part of the next phase of international payments modernisation.
What this means for the industry
- Central banks and commercial banks are accelerating efforts to modernise cross-border settlement infrastructure using tokenized money models.
- Atomic settlement capabilities could significantly reduce settlement and counterparty risks in international transactions.
- Blockchain-based wholesale payment systems are increasingly being explored within regulated financial environments rather than purely crypto-native ecosystems.
- Interoperable tokenized settlement frameworks may become a major focus area for future CBDC and wholesale payments development.
