A group of the world’s leading central banks and more than 40 major commercial banks are stepping up testing of one of the world’s most closely watched digital payments projects, as the race to update — and dominate — the international financial architecture intensifies.
The Agorá project, as it is known, is led by the Bank of International Settlements and involves the New York Fed, as well as the main central banks in Europe, Korea, Mexico and Japan, whose currencies represent the majority of global payments.
International transactions currently flow through a global network of correspondent commercial banks, but can be slow and expensive when there are multiple links in the chain or when they involve less-traded currencies from developing countries.
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BIS deputy general manager, Andréa Maechler, described the decision to begin user testing of the Agorá platform as ‘an important milestone’ for the project, which has been attracting increasing attention recently.
Global authorities have long sought to make international payments faster and cheaper and the Financial Stability Board, with a G20 mandate, has made this one of its top priorities this year.
Although not a direct rival, Agorá is also often compared to another international payments project called mBridge. The BIS also used to oversee mBridge, but unexpectedly withdrew at the end of 2024, leaving China effectively in control.
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“Tokenization is shaping the future of global finance,” said Maechler.
“Atomic settlement could be a game-changer for cross-border payments in a digital age,” she added, referring to digital technology’s ability to approve payments instantly and simultaneously.
Tim Adams, director of the Washington-based Institute of International Finance, which is coordinating the commercial banks’ contribution, explained that the work was moving from the theoretical phase to how it could work in the real world.
“Tokenization has the potential to reshape the way value moves, but only if it can be effectively integrated into governance, compliance and risk frameworks that regulators and markets can trust,” Adams said.
Although US President Donald Trump has criticized the idea of a digital version of the dollar, the Agorá platform focuses on payments between banks in the so-called ‘wholesale’ market, rather than those made by consumers in stores, coffee shopsor online.
The new testing phase is expected to last around six months, after which progress will be reported to decision makers who will then outline what more needs to be done so that a formal launch is possible, if deemed desirable.
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One of the likely next steps could be the inclusion of several other central banks and currencies in the project, probably those that are already in the Linked Continuous Settlement (CLS) system, such as the Canadian, Australian and New Zealand dollars and the main Scandinavian currencies.
Global financial messaging network SWIFT, which is also working on its own blockchain-based overhaul, is also part of the current group of financial companies involved in the project.
