BIS and Banks Build Blockchain Cross-Border Payments Prototype

The Bank for International Settlements and a cohort of partners will soon start testing a new prototype for digital cross-border payments with real-value transactions.

Two years after first unveiling the so-called Project Agorá along with seven central banks and more than 40 regulated institutions, the group is ready to move to a trial stage involving actual transfers of money, the Basel-based institution said in a statement on Wednesday.

“It will benefit the entire financial system,” said Tim Adams, head of the Institute of International Finance, which convened the private-sector participants.

The announcement marks a new milestone for the project ...