BIS, Swiss, World Bank join forces – introducing Promissa token

In brief:

• The BIS Innovation Hub Swiss Centre, Swiss National Bank, and World Bank have launched Project Promissa, an experiment using blockchain technology to digitize and manage promissory notes.
• The project aims to simplify the management of promissory notes and provide a single source of truth for all counterparties involved.
• It could be extended to include tokenized payment systems based on private or public money.

The BIS Innovation Hub Swiss Centre, the Swiss National Bank, and the World Bank have come together to launch Project Promissa, an experiment utilizing blockchain technology to digitize and manage promissory notes. Currently, many international financial institutions rely on paper-based promissory notes for funding. While the current system allows for payment transactions, the custody of promissory notes poses operational challenges. Project Promissa seeks to address these challenges and improve operational efficiency by leveraging distributed ledger technology.

Through the use of distributed ledger technology, Project Promissa aims to simplify the management of promissory notes and provide a single source of truth for all counterparties involved. Governments and central banks acting as custodians will have a comprehensive overview of outstanding notes with different international financial institutions. Similarly, international financial institutions will have visibility of outstanding notes held by different central banks. The project aims to complete its proof of concept and testing by early 2025.

The volume of outstanding promissory notes across international financial institutions is significant, with entities like the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Development Association holding substantial amounts of these notes pledged by member nations. While the initial focus of Project Promissa is on simplifying the management of promissory notes, the project could potentially be extended to include tokenized payment systems based on private or public money.