JPMorgan, UBS and others join the Bank for International Settlements' blockchain-based cross-border payment reform plan

According to ChainCatcher news, the Bank for International Settlements has partnered with some of the world's largest banks and credit card companies to launch a blockchain-based project aimed at fundamentally reforming global cross-border payments. JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, UBS Group, as well as Visa Inc. and Mastercard have all joined the Agora project, which started in May. The complete list of private sector participants includes 41 companies that will collaborate with seven central banks from regions such as the United States, the Eurozone, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

The Bank for International Settlements is exploring the creation of an international platform through Agora (which means market in Greek), where tokenized assets can be bought and sold using central bank-supported digital currencies issued by central banks that issue the world's most important reserve currencies. On this unified ledger, investors can conduct cross-border transactions using central bank money that is virtually risk-free. Currently, the only relatively safe currency is cash, which does not exist in digital form.