What happened
- Specific facts/numbers: BIS said Project Agorá brings together seven central banks and more than 40 regulated financial institutions, after a private-sector application process that closed on 31 May 2024 with selected participants due to be published by early August.
- Institutions involved: The project is convened by the BIS and the Institute of International Finance with Banque de France (for the Eurosystem), the Bank of Japan, Bank of Korea, Bank of Mexico, Swiss National Bank, Bank of England and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, alongside private-sector participants including major banks and payment firms listed in the BIS project report.
- Regulatory/technical context: Project Agorá is testing whether tokenised commercial bank deposits can be integrated with tokenised wholesale central bank money on a programmable platform to improve the speed and integrity of wholesale cross-border payments while operating within the legal, regulatory and operational conditions of participating currencies.
- What to watch next: No next milestone was identified in the material read beyond BIS stating in May 2024 that selected private-sector participants were expected to be published by early August.
Why it matters
The story signals continued momentum behind a public-private model for tokenised wholesale cross-border settlement, which could shape future payment-rail design and interoperability standards for major banks.
HKMA Relevance
Indirect: While Hong Kong is not named among the participating jurisdictions in the material read, the project targets cross-border payment infrastructure and tokenisation models that could influence regional policy and wholesale settlement design.