The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has taken a significant stride in the realm of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) with the launch of its innovative Agora platform.
Designed to foster collaboration and knowledge exchange among central banks globally, Agora aims to accelerate research and development in the CBDC space.
The BIS, often referred to as the central bank for central banks, unveiled Agora as a pioneering initiative to address the burgeoning interest and challenges surrounding CBDCs. The platform serves as a virtual space where central bankers and experts can convene, exchange insights, and explore various aspects of CBDC implementation.
With CBDCs emerging as a focal point in the evolution of monetary systems, the need for a collaborative platform like Agora has become increasingly apparent. Central banks worldwide are grappling with the complexities and implications of issuing digital currencies, ranging from technological infrastructures to regulatory frameworks and societal impacts.
Agorá (Greek for “marketplace”) brings together seven central banks: the Bank of France (representing the Eurosystem), the Bank of Japan, the Bank of Korea, the Bank of Mexico, the Swiss National Bank, the Bank of England, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. They will work with private sector financial firms under the aegis of the convened by the Institute of International Finance (IIF), a major traditional finance (TradFi) industry body.
Agora is set to facilitate discussions on a wide array of CBDC-related topics, including technological innovations, policy considerations, economic implications, and cross-border interoperability. By fostering an open dialogue and knowledge-sharing environment, the platform endeavours to expedite the development of CBDCs while ensuring alignment with central banks’ mandates and objectives.
Cecilia Skingsley, Head of the BIS Innovation Hub, stated:
“Today, numerous payment systems, accounting ledgers and data registries require other complex systems to integrate them. In Project Agorá, we want to explore a new common payment infrastructure that could bring all these elements together and might make the system work more efficiently together on a digital core financial infrastructure. We will not just test the technology, we will test it within the specific operational, regulatory and legal conditions of the participating currencies, together with financial companies operating in them.”
The project hopes to identify ways of improving the functionality of the monetary system. The participating central banks are exploring how they might use distributed ledger technology and blockchain to develop solutions using smart contracts and programmability.
They intend to maintain TradFi’s two-tier structure (commercial bank money and central bank money) and so will explore how tokenized commercial bank deposits can be seamlessly integrated with tokenized wholesale central bank money in a public-private programmable core financial platform.
Hyun Song Shin, BIS Economic Adviser and Head of Research, stated:
“Tokenisation combines the record-keeping function of a traditional database with the rules and logic that govern transfers. With Project Agorá, we aim to improve existing capabilities and enable new ones, all based on the proven foundations of the two-tier monetary system with central banks at the core. These functionalities will come without sacrificing the safeguards on the integrity and governance of the monetary system.”
This public-private partnership aims to address existing inefficiencies in payment systems, particularly in cross-border transactions. Challenges such as varying legal, regulatory, and technical requirements, as well as operational disparities across time zones, contribute to these inefficiencies. Additionally, the complexity of ensuring financial integrity, including anti-money laundering measures and customer verification, is exacerbated by multiple intermediaries often requiring repetitive checks for the same transaction.
As central banks continue to explore the feasibility and implications of CBDCs, Agora stands poised to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of digital currencies and the broader financial ecosystem. With its comprehensive suite of tools and resources, the platform represents a significant milestone in advancing the discourse and development of CBDCs worldwide.
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