Blockchains may add value to payments when they support a shared, programmable platform that brings payment messages, money, assets and transaction conditions together. The strongest current institutional example is wholesale cross-border settlement: Project Agorá demonstrated technical feasibility for atomic, multi-currency transactions, but it has not proved scaled production performance or consumer savings.
The opportunity is not a ledger by itself. Cross-border payments are constrained by coordination among institutions and countries as well as by technology, so a new platform cannot resolve every source of friction on its own.
What does tokenisation change in a payment?
Tokenisation represents money or another asset digitally on a programmable platform. The potential change is that messaging, reconciliation and settlement—which may be handled through separate processes—can be integrated in a shared environment. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) described this approach in its 21 October 2024 tokenisation report.
If payment and asset transfer operate on the same platform, software can also apply conditions to a transaction. For example, in a delivery-versus-payment arrangement, the asset transfer and payment are designed to depend on one another. That is a potential design capability, not a guarantee that every transaction will be faster, cheaper or safer.
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In June 2025, BIS Economic Adviser and Head of the Monetary and Economic Department Hyun Song Shin described the goal as integrating “the primary means of payment” and “the settlement function of central bank money” on one programmable platform. The practical value depends on whether the institutions involved can use that shared workflow and trust its rules.
Why cross-border payments are the clearest test
Domestic and cross-border payments do not face the same operating environment. International payments can involve sequential processes, separate infrastructure, compliance requirements, foreign-exchange arrangements and settlement procedures. In a paper dated 11 March 2026, BIS identified limited interoperability and differences between countries as important barriers to further progress.
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A shared platform could potentially reduce the need for institutions to reconcile separate records and coordinate a series of handoffs. It cannot, by itself, align national rules, connect incompatible systems or settle questions about who governs a transaction. BIS’s analysis points to public-sector cooperation alongside private-sector innovation.
What Project Agorá demonstrated—and what it did not
Project Agorá, convened by BIS and the Institute of International Finance, brought together seven central banks and more than 40 regulated financial institutions. Those figures describe the project’s participants, not a measured improvement in payment speed or cost.
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The prototype combined tokenised commercial-bank deposits 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 to an unsettled other leg. Smart contracts can also encode workflow logic, compliance requirements and conditional payment triggers. The design could support around-the-clock operation if implemented.
A BIS media release dated 27 May 2026 said the prototype demonstrated the possibility of completing cross-border wholesale transactions securely and with finality across currencies and jurisdictions. Its layered architecture was designed to preserve central banks’ autonomy over national currencies and operations. The release also said privacy could be protected while supporting compliance.
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Agorá remains experimental. The BIS release noted that further technical, operational and contractual work is needed. A successful prototype is evidence that a design can work under project conditions; it is not evidence that a live public payment service is operating at scale or that customers have realized savings. The reviewed materials do not establish a directly comparable, realized cost or speed improvement for a live tokenised cross-border payment system.
How tokenised bank money compares with stablecoins
“Digital asset” does not mean “money,” and different digital instruments should not be treated as interchangeable. Tokenised commercial-bank deposits and central-bank reserves represent existing forms of money for use on a programmable platform. Stablecoins are private digital tokens, often intended to track a fiat currency and used on public blockchains.
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| Option | What it represents | Potential strength | Important limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Correspondent banking | Bank-to-bank claims and payment messages routed through intermediaries. | Established institutional arrangements. | Sequential processing, reconciliation and cross-border frictions remain; outcomes vary by corridor. BIS, 11 March 2026. |
| Tokenised deposits and central-bank reserves on a shared platform | Existing forms of bank and central-bank money represented for programmable platform use. | Potential atomic settlement and integration of payment, compliance and workflow logic. BIS, Project Agorá, 27 May 2026. | Requires legal, operational and institutional readiness; Agorá is a prototype. BIS, 27 May 2026. |
| Stablecoins | Private digital tokens, often designed to track fiat value. | May serve as a crypto-market access route or cross-border or foreign-currency instrument for some users. | BIS says they do not meet the tests of singleness, elasticity and integrity required to serve as the monetary system’s mainstay. BIS, Annual Economic Report 2025. |
The distinction matters: a tokenised deposit remains a claim on a commercial bank, while a tokenised reserve represents central-bank money. A stablecoin is a different private instrument. BIS recognizes that stablecoins may have cross-border uses, but does not consider them a substitute for the foundations of the monetary system.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What must be in place before a shared platform adds value?
Efficiency depends on more than transaction code. BIS’s work highlights several conditions that determine whether a platform’s technical capabilities can become useful payment infrastructure:
- Interoperability: participating systems and institutions need ways to work together. A shared platform that remains isolated from the broader payment environment cannot solve fragmentation by itself.
- Governance and risk management: responsibilities, controls and risk handling need to be sound. BIS identifies these as prerequisites for safe token arrangements.
- Legal clarity: participants need confidence about the legal effect and finality of settlement in the jurisdictions involved. Agorá’s legal analysis found settlement finality achievable in participating jurisdictions, while the BIS said further work remains.
- Operational and contractual readiness: the system’s technical design must be matched by workable operating arrangements and agreements among participants.
- Institutional and public-sector cooperation: cross-border payment arrangements span national boundaries. Progress requires coordination beyond the institutions running the platform.
Has blockchain made international payments faster or cheaper?
The available evidence supports a cautious answer: blockchain-based and tokenised platforms show potential mechanisms for improving settlement workflows, and Agorá demonstrated a technical possibility in a prototype. The reviewed sources do not establish a general, measured improvement in speed or cost for consumers, nor savings from a live tokenised cross-border payment service.
For now, the most credible case is narrower: shared programmable infrastructure may help financial institutions coordinate wholesale cross-border settlement. Whether that translates into better outcomes for end users depends on implementation, participation and the institutional arrangements around the technology.
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