BIS Project Agora Moves to Real-Value Testing for Cross-Border Payments

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has unveiled findings from its two-year Project Agora, which involved collaboration with seven central banks and over 40 regulated financial institutions. According to NS3.AI, the project developed a prototype that utilizes tokenized central bank reserves and commercial bank deposits to facilitate cross-border wholesale payments within seconds. While the initiative is advancing to real-value testing, the BIS has not disclosed a timeline for broader implementation.