What it is
The Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub (BISIH) is a network of innovation centres operated by the BIS in partnership with central banks across Switzerland, Singapore, Hong Kong, London, Stockholm, Frankfurt/Paris, Toronto, and the New York Fed. Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Basel, its mandate is to develop public-good technological prototypes for tokenization, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and supervisory technology (suptech). It is not a regulatory body but a coordination and experimentation network that bridges central banks and the financial technology frontier.
Crypto framework and stance
BISIH does not issue regulations or enforce them; its role is experimental and collaborative. In 2026, its stance remains focused on exploring how programmable money and distributed ledger technology can improve the functioning of the international monetary system. The hub coordinates both wholesale and retail CBDC experiments, tokenization pilots for financial assets, cross-border payment improvements, and suptech tools. Unlike securities regulators, BISIH does not classify crypto assets as securities or commodities but instead examines whether central bank money in tokenized form can deliver efficiency and safety. Its work is often seen as a counterweight to private-sector stablecoins, seeking to preserve monetary sovereignty while embracing innovation.
Notable actions
Several high-profile projects define BISIH’s 2024–2025 output. Project Agorá (2024) explored tokenized correspondent banking, showing how wholesale CBDCs could streamline settlement across currencies. Project Mariana tested foreign exchange transactions using wholesale CBDCs and automated market makers, a step toward on-chain FX markets. Project Tourbillon focused on privacy-preserving CBDC design, demonstrating that central banks can strike a balance between user confidentiality and compliance. Project Aurum delivered a retail CBDC architecture blueprint, detailing how central bank and commercial bank intermediaries could co-exist in a two-tier system. Each prototype advances the global conversation on digital money infrastructure without binding any jurisdiction to a particular design.
Key figures
Cecilia Skingsley has served as Head of the BIS Innovation Hub since 2022, steering its expansion from three to eight centres. A former deputy governor of Sweden’s Riksbank, she brings deep central banking experience and a pragmatic view of technology’s role in public policy. Under her leadership, the hub has prioritized tokenization and CBDC projects that address real-world settlement inefficiencies, often collaborating with peers like the SEC ↗ and MAS ↗ on research.
What it means for users and builders
For DeFi builders, BISIH’s prototypes signal where regulated infrastructure may emerge: atomic settlement, wholesale CBDC liquidity pools, and privacy-preserving identity frameworks. Users might eventually interact with CBDCs that resemble stablecoins but carry central bank backing—though retail versions remain largely conceptual. Cross-border payment rails could become programmable, reducing friction but also raising new compliance considerations. Builders should watch BISIH’s open-source code repositories and consultation papers, as they often prefigure technical standards that national regulators adopt.
Outlook
By 2026, BISIH is set to deepen its tokenization agenda, moving from proof-of-concepts to live sandboxes with multiple central banks. Suptech tools that automate regulatory reporting and detect market abuse in near real-time are likely to gain prominence. While the hub has no power to mandate change, its ability to convene the world’s most influential central banks means its prototypes will heavily shape the next generation of financial market infrastructure.
DeFi Intel publishes editorial research, not financial advice. Do your own research and consult a licensed advisor for your situation.