Project Agorá Prototype for Cross-Border Payments

This technical report presents Project Agorá, a collaborative initiative led by the Bank for International Settlements and the Institute of International Finance aimed at improving wholesale cross-border payments through tokenisation and programmability. The report outlines the structural inefficiencies currently plaguing cross-border payments, which result in slow, costly, and opaque transactions. It details the development and testing of a prototype that utilizes a multi-currency settlement mechanism, leveraging tokenised central bank reserves and commercial bank deposits to enhance transaction safety, speed, and transparency. The prototype is built on a unified ledger concept and supports smart contracts, facilitating efficient payment execution. The report also includes an assessment of legal and regulatory considerations necessary for implementing this innovative payment platform. Key features such as atomic settlement are highlighted, demonstrating the prototype's capability to mitigate settlement risks. Overall, the findings indicate that the Project Agorá prototype lays a foundation for future advancements in cross-border payment solutions.