AMINA Bank joins Project Agorá for cross-border payments tokenisation

By Gloria Mathias

AMINA Bank, a global crypto bank, has announced its participation in Project Agorá, launched by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), a group of central banks, and the Institute of International Finance (IIF) to explore how tokenisation can enhance wholesale cross-border payments.

Project Agorá is structured as a public-private collaboration and brings together 7 central banks: Bank of France, Bank of Japan, Bank of Korea, Bank of Mexico, Swiss National Bank, Bank of England, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, convened by the BIS. AMINA Bank is one of the private financial firms convened by the IIF that will proceed to the next phase in the exploration of how tokenisation can enhance wholesale cross-border payments.

Franz Bergmueller, CEO at AMINA, said, “We at AMINA Bank relish the opportunity to participate in Project Agorá, a groundbreaking initiative that represents a significant step forward in the continuing evolution of cross-border payments. Project Agorá is set to disrupt the financial system and bring it to a level where it is not only faster but also more secure and inclusive. Smart contracts and DLT are two major components of blockchain technology, which will be the driving force of the banking sector in the future. Similarly, the market for asset tokenisation is rapidly growing, and estimates indicate that it could reach $16 trillion by 2030, which is 10% of the world’s GDP. These developments highlight the significance of Project Agorá, and we are privileged to be part of this change process.”

The project builds on the unified ledger concept proposed by the BIS. It will investigate how tokenised commercial bank deposits can be seamlessly integrated with tokenised wholesale central bank money in a public-private programmable core financial platform. This could enhance the functioning of the monetary system and provide new solutions using smart contracts and programmability while maintaining its two-tier structure.

This public-private partnership will seek to overcome several structural inefficiencies in how payments happen now, especially across borders, which add a layer of challenges: different legal, regulatory, and technical requirements, operating hours, and time zones.