Blockchains could add value in payments when they help institutions coordinate money transfers, asset delivery and transaction rules on a shared programmable platform. The clearest current example is wholesale cross-border settlement, where tokenised bank deposits and central-bank money could settle together. Project Agorá demonstrated technical feasibility in a prototype; it did not establish that blockchain has made international payments broadly faster or cheaper for consumers.
Why cross-border payments are harder than domestic ones
Sending money across a border can involve multiple banks, payment messages, compliance checks, foreign-exchange arrangements and settlement procedures. These steps may take place across separate systems and at different times, requiring institutions to reconcile records and coordinate with one another.
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The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) notes that cross-border payments remain less efficient than domestic payments. The difficulty is not simply that banks use old technology: different rules and infrastructures across countries, as well as limited interoperability, also constrain progress. A new ledger cannot by itself resolve those institutional differences. (BIS, “Enhancing cross-border payments: building blocks of a global roadmap,” 11 March 2026.)
What tokenisation changes
Tokenisation represents money or another asset digitally on a programmable platform. The potential shift is not just moving an existing payment onto a blockchain. A shared platform could bring together the payment instruction, the transfer of an asset, settlement and the rules that govern when a transaction may proceed.
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For example, in a delivery-versus-payment arrangement, the asset transfer and the payment are linked: each occurs only if the other can occur. Programmable conditions can also trigger a payment when specified requirements are met. If these processes operate in a coordinated environment, some separate messaging, reconciliation and settlement steps may be combined. These are potential design advantages, not guaranteed savings for every transaction. (BIS, “Tokenisation in the context of money and other assets: concepts and implications for central banks,” 21 October 2024.)
As BIS Economic Adviser Hyun Song Shin put it in June 2025, tokenising deposits and central-bank money could allow “both the primary means of payment as well as the settlement function of central bank money” to be integrated on the same programmable platform. The practical question is whether that integration works safely across institutions and jurisdictions—not whether a platform uses blockchain in name.
Project Agorá shows the strongest current institutional use case
Project Agorá is a BIS-led prototype exploring wholesale cross-border payments. Convened by the BIS and the Institute of International Finance, it involved seven central banks and more than 40 regulated financial institutions. Those figures describe the collaboration’s participants, not payment performance. (BIS, Project Agorá materials and release, 27 May 2026.)
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The prototype brought tokenised commercial-bank deposits together with tokenised central-bank reserves on a shared platform. BIS reported that it demonstrated the possibility of atomic, multi-currency wholesale settlement: the linked parts of a transaction can settle together rather than leaving one side exposed while waiting for another. Smart contracts can encode workflow logic, compliance requirements and conditional payment triggers.
The design was intended to support around-the-clock operation if implemented, while its layered architecture was designed to preserve central banks’ autonomy over national currencies and operations. BIS also said privacy could be protected while supporting compliance. These are capabilities and design aims reported for an experimental project, not evidence of a live public payment service or measured savings from real-value transactions.
BIS said its legal analysis found settlement finality achievable in the participating jurisdictions, but identified further technical, operational and contractual work. The prototype therefore demonstrates feasibility under development, not production readiness or performance at scale.
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How tokenised bank money differs from stablecoins
“Digital asset” does not mean one kind of money. Tokenised bank deposits and central-bank reserves represent established forms of money for use on a programmable platform. Stablecoins are privately issued digital tokens, often designed to track the value of a fiat currency. They may serve as a cross-border or foreign-currency instrument for some users, but they are not the same thing as tokenised deposits or central-bank money.
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|---|---|---|---|
| Correspondent banking | Bank-to-bank claims and payment messages routed through intermediaries. | Uses established institutional arrangements. | Sequential processing, reconciliation and cross-border frictions remain; results vary by corridor. (BIS, 11 March 2026.) |
| Tokenised deposits and central-bank reserves on a shared platform | Existing forms of money represented for programmable platform use. | Could combine workflow logic with payment and atomic settlement across currencies. | Requires interoperability, governance, legal clarity and operational readiness. Project Agorá is an experimental prototype, not a live service. (BIS, 27 May 2026; BIS, 21 October 2024.) |
| Stablecoins | Private digital tokens, often intended to track a fiat currency and used on public blockchains. | May provide crypto-market access or a cross-border instrument for some users. | BIS says stablecoins do not meet the tests of singleness, elasticity and integrity needed to serve as the monetary system’s mainstay. (BIS, Annual Economic Report 2025.) |
The distinction matters because a token’s ability to move across a blockchain does not, by itself, make it equivalent to bank money or central-bank money. In its 2025 Annual Economic Report, BIS assesses stablecoins against the monetary system’s needs, rather than treating all digital tokens as interchangeable payment assets.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What would have to be in place for the benefits to materialise
A shared platform can reduce coordination steps only if the institutions and jurisdictions involved can use it together. Important requirements include:
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- Interoperability: systems, institutions and payment arrangements need ways to connect and exchange value and information. Fragmentation cannot be solved by deploying another isolated platform.
- Clear legal and contractual rules: participants need confidence about when settlement is final, which law applies and how obligations are enforced across jurisdictions.
- Operational readiness: a prototype must be developed into systems that can handle real-world reliability, security, compliance and incident response requirements.
- Sound governance and risk management: responsibility for platform rules, access, decision-making and risks must be clear. BIS identifies these as necessary for safe token arrangements.
- Broad institutional participation: payment and settlement improvements depend on coordination among the relevant banks, central banks and other participants, not just the technology chosen by one firm.
Public-sector cooperation remains important alongside private innovation because cross-border payment systems span different national arrangements. Without that cooperation, technical integration may leave legal and institutional bottlenecks untouched.
Has blockchain made international payments faster or cheaper?
The evidence described here does not establish a general improvement in speed or cost for consumers using live tokenised cross-border payments. Project Agorá is an experimental wholesale prototype, and the cited BIS materials do not provide a directly comparable realized cost or speed saving for a live tokenised system.
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The more defensible conclusion is narrower: tokenisation on a shared programmable platform could make certain wholesale settlement workflows more integrated, including atomic settlement across currencies. Whether that becomes faster, cheaper or more accessible in routine use depends on implementation, participating institutions, corridor-specific arrangements and the legal and operational conditions around the platform.
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