The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has set out a comprehensive vision for the future of the monetary and financial system, centred on a unified tokenised ledger that integrates central bank money, commercial bank deposits and government bonds.
The BIS’s Annual Economic Report 2025 features a special chapter outlining how this “trilogy” of tokenised assets could underpin a more efficient, secure and trusted financial system.
The proposed architecture builds on the principles of sound money and public trust in central bank money, while harnessing the advantages of tokenisation.
Tokenisation refers to the digital representation of assets using programmable platforms, enabling payment messaging, reconciliation and settlement to occur in a single, seamless process.
The BIS believes this could transform cross border payments and securities markets.
“The tokenisation of deposits and central bank money allows both the main means of payment and the settlement function to operate on the same programmable platform,”
said Hyun Song Shin, Economic Adviser and Head of the Monetary and Economic Department at the BIS.
“This holds particular promise for improving correspondent banking and securities markets.”
The BIS warns that while stablecoins could have a limited role if effectively regulated, they do not offer the fundamental qualities of singleness of money, elasticity and integrity.
Their long term role remains uncertain beyond acting as gateways to the crypto ecosystem.
“The next generation monetary system builds on the proven trust in central bank money and the capabilities of tokenisation,”
said Agustín Carstens, General Manager of the BIS.
“This model offers significant improvements to existing frameworks and enables new economic arrangements. It will require bold leadership by central banks working alongside the private sector and public institutions.”
The BIS is actively working with central banks to test and implement this vision.
Project Agorá, a collaboration involving seven central banks and 43 private sector institutions, explores the use of tokenisation to make cross border payments in the banking system more efficient and cost effective.
Featured image credit: Edited by Fintech News Switzerland, based on image by freepik
