## Preface

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---

### Mission overview and objectives
- IMF MCM Department hybrid TA mission in Manila, Philippines from November 26, 2024, to December 4, 2024, at the request of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to assist stakeholder engagement and develop a preliminary roadmap for a wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC).
- CSF creative design team joined in-person; ITD members joined virtually.
- Mission objectives: facilitate an IMF-led design-thinking workshop with stakeholders and develop a preliminary roadmap for wCBDC research and experimentation.
- This mission was the fourth BSP CBDC engagement led by MCM (Phase 1: 2022 virtual education; Phase 2: 2022 initial onsite suitability evaluation; Phase 3: 2023 onsite technology and policy guidance for Project Agila prototype; Phase 4: 2024 onsite facilitation for stakeholder workshop and Project Agila experimentation roadmap).

### Stakeholder engagement and participants
- Meetings with Deputy Governor Mamerto E. Tangonan; Director Bridget Rose Mesina-Romero; Director Jay Dizon; Mr. Jan Evangelista; multiple BSP departments (Payments Policy and Development; Payments and Settlements; Payments Supervision and Licensing; Technology and Digital Innovation; Risk and Compliance; Financial Accounting; Economic Research; Supervisory Policy and Research); and key financial institutions, regulators, agencies, and industry associations.
- Onsite stakeholder workshop engaged nine FIs from Project Agila, Bankers Association of the Philippines, SEC, BTr, and FMIs including SCCP, PDTC, PPMI, and PDEX.
- Workshop objectives: validate wholesale payments pain points, assess existing/planned solutions, identify gaps and potential wCBDC use cases, explore value propositions, risks, stakeholders, and feasibility based on impact and feasibility.

### Key high-level findings from stakeholder engagement
- Main wholesale payment challenges identified:
  - Limited settlement time for wholesale payments.
  - Need to enhance capital markets development.
  - Fragmentation and high costs of payments.
  - Inefficiency in cross-border payments.
  - Room to promote payment innovation.
- Workshop priorities and outcomes:
  - Two use cases prioritized for future Project Agila experimentation: settling of tokenized government bonds and enhancing cross-border payments.
  - Participants noted inefficiencies in settlement processes and lack of interoperability among existing payment systems.
  - Mixed interest in extending PhilPaSS plus operating hours for 24/7 settlement; concerns about resource availability and single-vendor reliance.
- Key capital market statistics:
  - Total outstanding government bonds reached PHP 10,930 billion at end-2024, growing at 9.11 percent year-on-year and accounting for 40.8 percent of the total local currency bond market.
  - Corporate and central bank bonds represented 5.13 and 2.96 percent of total local currency bond market, respectively.
  - Retail treasury bonds accounted for 28.7 percent of the local currency market at end-2024.
  - Retail investors constitute 98.5 percent of stock market accounts in 2023, with 17.6 percent classified as active accounts.
- Existing/planned initiatives referenced:
  - PhilPaSS plus operates from 9:00 am to 5:45 pm Mondays through Fridays, except national holidays.
  - BTr digitalization: reduced minimum primary market purchase from PHP5,000 to PHP500; early form of tokenized treasury bonds (TTB) launched in 2023 using a permissionless, public blockchain for a bond purchase registry for targeted institutional investors.
  - CMDC role in policy coordination among SEC, BTr, BSP, and private sector participants.

### Box 1 — BTr’s Tokenized Treasury Bonds (TTBs)
- Launch: November 2023; partners: PDAX, LandBank of the Philippines, Development Bank of the Philippines.
- Offer: annual fixed rate of 6.5 percent, one-year maturity.
- IPO: original PHP10 billion, increased to PHP15 billion due to strong demand.
- Implementation note: Treasury bonds not represented/traded on DLT; purchase information recorded on a DLT in parallel to existing process.

### Identified wCBDC use cases (workshop synthesis)
- wCBDC for settling tokenized government bonds:
  - Stakeholders see wCBDC as a tokenized cash leg to support BTr’s TTB experimentation.
  - Promising features to explore:
    - Simultaneous and conditional DvP settlements in central bank money to lower principal, liquidity, credit, and settlement risks versus commercial bank money.
    - Programmability (smart contracts) for coupon/dividend distribution, auctions, mark-to-market valuations, ownership transfers.
    - Flexible fractionalization enabling trading of any amount and potentially lowering minimum investment barriers and improving liquidity; BSP to assess whether wCBDC is necessary to support fractionalization.
  - Considerations for equities and FMI access: SCCP would need direct wCBDC account with BSP for DvP1; SCCP currently prefers commercial bank relationships and could first be encouraged to use PhilPaSS plus.
- wCBDC for cross-border payments:
  - Strong interest in improving wholesale cross-border payment efficiency; testing requires collaboration with partner central banks.
  - Capabilities to assess:
    - Simultaneous and conditional PvP settlements in central bank money on shared platforms (e.g., Project mBridge, Project Dunbar).
    - Support for tokenized letters of credit or invoices to improve trade finance and supply chain management.
- Additional RTGS functionalities with wCBDC:
  - Explore wCBDC as complementary system replicating RTGS functionalities (gridlock resolution, repo transactions) to reduce single-technology reliance and enhance business continuity.

### Box 2 — Alternatives to wCBDC for settling tokenized assets
- Two central-bank-developed alternatives that preserve central-bank-money safety without issuing tokenized central bank money:
  - Trigger Solution:
    - Technical bridge/synchronization operator coordinates tokenized asset delivery on private DLT with payment in reserves on RTGS; enables conditional DvP settlement while maintaining reserves settlement.
    - Example: Bundesbank technical bridge linking market-operated DLT platforms to TARGET Services T2.
  - Omnibus Account:
    - Licensed FMI operating private DLT holds an Omnibus Account at the central bank; issues on-chain tokenized money backed by central bank funds held in the omnibus account; supports programmable DvP, PvP.
    - Example: Sterling Fnality Payment System (Bank of England initiative).
- Roadmap implication: BSP should evaluate feasibility, suitability, and perform cost-benefit analysis against alternatives before advancing PoC/prototype stages; coordinate closely with BTr and partner central banks.

### Preliminary roadmap approach and 5P methodology
- Roadmap structured around IMF’s “5P methodology” (Preparation, Proof-of-concept, Prototyping, Piloting, Production) and organized in multi-phase approach.
- Foundational workstream (high-level action items):
  - Resource allocation / assign ownership.
  - Identification and alignment of policy goals.
  - Continuous stakeholder engagement.
  - Suitability assessment.
- Follow-up research and experimentation focused on two prioritized use cases (tokenized government bonds; cross-border payments).
- Mission activities supporting roadmap:
  - Presentations on IMF CBDC Virtual Handbook and tokenization projects.
  - Desk review of Project Agila results.
  - Three-day stakeholder workshop using human-centered design and Future Thinking methods.
  - Co-design of preliminary roadmap with action items across strategy, technology, operations, macro-financial implications and prioritized for short and medium terms.

### Key recommendations (extracted from Table 1)
- Resources / Project Management
  - Assign BSP staff with diverse, multi-disciplinary expertise to dedicated working teams for each identified wCBDC use case (paragraph 29). Priority: High. Timeframe: Near term.
  - Identify overlapping action items across use cases and assess opportunities to optimize efforts and streamline processes (paragraph 30). Priority: Medium. Timeframe: Near term.
  - Examine dependencies of action items and allocate timelines for completion (paragraph 31). Priority: Medium. Timeframe: Medium term.
- Communication
  - Continue stakeholder engagement to clarify wCBDC value propositions and gain buy-in (paragraph 32). Priority: High. Timeframe: Medium term.
  - Develop joint communication strategy with key partners for consistent messaging (paragraph 33). Priority: Medium. Timeframe: Medium term.
  - Promote public awareness and education related to wCBDC policy goals (paragraph 34). Priority: Medium. Timeframe: Medium term.
- Success measurement and roadmap continuation
  - Use IMF 5P methodology; establish KPIs, go/no-go decision points, and success metrics for each use case (paragraph 35). Priority: High. Timeframe: Medium term.
  - Refine the roadmap and engage internal departments and external stakeholders for alignment (paragraph 36). Priority: Medium. Timeframe: Near term.
  - Ensure proper legal framework to support wCBDC experimentations (paragraph 37). Priority: High. Timeframe: Medium term.
  - Gather feedback and empirical data to assess and quantify impact of bond tokenization and wCBDC on capital market (paragraph 38). Priority: Medium. Timeframe: Medium term.
- Product-market fit and suitability
  - Define clear policy goals and initial hypotheses for wCBDC to test economic impact (paragraph 39). Priority: High. Timeframe: Near term.
  - Engage stakeholders in co-design to ensure meaningful benefits and practical applications (paragraph 40). Priority: High. Timeframe: Medium term.
  - Explore incentives and pricing structures to promote sustained adoption (paragraph 41). Priority: High. Timeframe: Medium term.
  - Research technical and economic opportunities tokenization could bring to Philippine markets (paragraph 42). Priority: Medium. Timeframe: Medium term.
- Technology
  - Collaboratively research technology solutions for wCBDC and tokenization (paragraph 43). Priority: Medium. Timeframe: Near term.
  - Research and implement measures for digital risk management (cybersecurity, operational resilience) (paragraph 44). Priority: High. Timeframe: Medium term.
  - Improve technical shortcomings and risks identified in Project Agila sandbox (paragraph 45). Priority: High. Timeframe: Medium term.
- Timeframe definitions:
  - Near term: < 12 months.
  - Medium term: 12 to 24 months.

### Annex highlights — Preliminary Roadmap and Annex III experiments
- Annex I: Detailed preliminary roadmap with Foundations, Tokenized Government Securities pathway, Cross-Border Payment pathway, and named deliverables (e.g., Impact evaluation and PoC development summary report*, Prototype and deployment strategy*, MoU signed with two relevant countries*).
- Annex III: Overview of ongoing wCBDC experiments (Project Helvetia, Project Acacia, Project Khokha, Project Jasper, Project Dunbar, Project mBridge) with common takeaways:
  - Technical feasibility for DvP on DLT when tokenized assets and tokenized money are on same platform.
  - Need for comparative assessment versus upgrading existing infrastructure.
  - Importance of early legal/regulatory assessment and addressing operational/cyber risks.
  - Uncertainty over ultimate size and sustainability of tokenized securities markets; benefits may derive from business-process innovation as much as from technology.
- Annex IV (desk review of Project Agila): commends BSP’s draft report; recommends publishing project report and annexes; technical issues to address include node operating hours, validator requirements, smart contract risk management, data confidentiality, and the 89% error rate in scalability tests.

### BSP–IMF medium-term capacity development workplan (selected actions and timelines)
- Action 1: IMF TA mission (remote) on wCBDC prototype — Timeline: July 15, 2022, to February 28, 2023 — Status: Completed.
- Action 2: MCM TA mission (in-person) on wCBDC prototype/use-case analysis — Timeline: December 1-14, 2022 — Status: Completed.
- Action 3: Follow-up IMF TA mission (in-person) to take stock and update workplan — Timeline: November 20-23, 2023 — Status: Completed.
- Action 4: Post-mission engagements (remote) on wCBDC prototype documents — Timeline: January to March 2024 — Status: Completed.
- Action 5: BSP completes sandbox test of a wCBDC prototype — Timeline: By September, 2024 — Status: Pending the development of prototype.
- Action 6: BSP shares draft of Agila’s final assessment report and IMF desk review — Timeline: Mid-October 2024 — Status: Pending prototype/report.
- Action 7: BSP completes final assessment report — Timeline: By January 2025 — Status: Pending.
- Action 8: Follow-up IMF (onsite) TA mission on stakeholder engagement — Timeline: November 25 – December 3, 20224 — Status: Pending publication of outcome report.
- Action 9: BSP to draft CBDC Roadmap — Timeline: By January, 2025 — Status: Planned.
- Action 10: BSP to decide whether to issue a wCBDC — Timeline: TBD — Status: TBD.
- Factors anchoring decision to proceed with wCBDC:
  - Outcome of ongoing project; feedback from payments industry; identification of specific wCBDC use cases by BSP and industry; BSP strategic priorities; advice from IMF as external adviser.

*Source: tarea2026046 — IMF Technical Assistance Report (Preface).*

### Preface ................................................................................................................

### Preface

### Overview
- Contents listing for the report, including Preface, Glossary, Recommendations, Executive Summary, Introduction and Background, Findings from Stakeholder Engagement, wCBDC’s Preliminary Roadmap, Conclusion, Box, Figures, Tables, and Annexes.
- Page reference shown: "IMFTechnical Assistance Report | 5"

### Major sections referenced in the Preface
- Preface ......................................................................................................................................................... 5
- Glossary ....................................................................................................................................................... 6
- Recommendations ...................................................................................................................................... 7
- I. Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................. 9
- II. Introduction and Background .............................................................................................................. 10
- III. Findings from Stakeholder Engagement ........................................................................................... 11
  - A. Objectives and Approach ................................................................................................................... 11
  - B. Key Challenges in the Wholesale Payment Landscape Identified by the Participants ..................... 12
  - C. Stakeholder Opinions of Potential wCBDC Use Cases .................................................................... 20
- IV. wCBDC’s Preliminary Roadmap ........................................................................................................ 23
  - A. Objective and Approach .................................................................................................................... 23
  - B. Preliminary Roadmap ........................................................................................................................ 24
  - C. Recommendations ............................................................................................................................. 26
- V. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................ 30

### Boxes, Figures, and Tables listed
- Box
  - 1. BTr’s Tokenized Treasury Bonds .............................................................................................................. 6
  - 2. Alternatives to wCBDC for Settling Tokenized Assets ............................................................................ 22
- Figures
  - 1. High-Level Process of Stakeholder Engagement and Roadmap Workshops ...................................... 12
  - 2. High-Level Challenges Captured from Project Agila’s Survey ............................................................. 12
  - 3. Local Currency Bond Market as Percent of Nominal GDP ..................................................................... 15
  - 4. Stock Market Capitalization as Percent of Nominal GDP ..................................................................... 15
  - 6. The 5P Methodology .............................................................................................................................. 23
  - 7. High-Level Foundational Action Items .................................................................................................... 24
  - 8. High-Level Action Items for the Tokenized Government Bond Use Case ......................................... 25
  - 9. High-Level Action  Items the Cross-Border Use  Case ......................................................................... 26
- Tables
  - 1. Key Recommendations ............................................................................................................................ 7
  - 2. Retail Payment System Fees in the Region .......................................................................................... 17

### Annexes and supplementary materials indicated
- Annexes
  - I. Preliminary Roadmap ............................................................................................................................... 31
  - II. The Philippines’s Wholesale Payment Landscape ................................................................................. 33
  - III. Ongoing wCBDC Experimenting Projects and Use Cases .................................................................... 35
  - IV. Description of Methodologies Used During the Workshops .................................................................. 38
  - V. Desk Review: Project Agila Outcome Reports ....................................................................................... 44
  - VI. BSP-IMF wCBDC Medium-Term Capacity Development Workplan ..................................................... 44

*Source: tarea2026046 - Preface (IMFTechnical Assistance Report | page listing provided in source content).*

### Preface

### Preface

### Mission overview
- The IMF’s Monetary and Capital Markets (MCM) Department conducted a hybrid technical assistance mission in Manila, the Philippines, from November 26, 2024, to December 4, 2024, at the request of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to assist in stakeholder engagement and develop a preliminary roadmap for a wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC).
- The Corporate Services and Facilities Department (CSF) creative design team joined the mission in-person; members of the Information Technology Department (ITD) joined virtually.
- The mission objectives included facilitating an IMF-led design-thinking workshop with stakeholders and developing a preliminary roadmap for wCBDC research and experimentation.

### Past engagements and Project Agila
- This mission was the fourth CBDC engagement with the BSP, all led by MCM:
  - Phase 1 (2022): virtual educational presentations on major CBDC topics.
  - Phase 2 (2022): initial onsite evaluation of the suitability of wCBDC for certain market segments.
  - Phase 3 (2023): onsite technology and policy guidance for Project Agila’s prototype.
  - Phase 4 (2024): onsite facilitation for a stakeholder workshop and Project Agila’s experimentation roadmap.
- Project Agila: BSP-led sandbox with a wCBDC prototype developed by Oracle Philippines since 2022, testing interbank transfers, 24/7 operations, and issuance of tokenized securities on distributed ledger technology (DLT). The IMF mission team conducted a desk review of the outcome reports in late 2024.

### Stakeholder engagement and meetings
- The mission met with Deputy Governor Mamerto E. Tangonan, Director Bridget Rose Mesina-Romero, Director Jay Dizon, Mr. Jan Evangelista, representatives from multiple BSP departments and offices (Payments Policy and Development; Payments and Settlements; Payments Supervision and Licensing; Technology and Digital Innovation; Risk and Compliance; Financial Accounting; Economic Research; Supervisory Policy and Research), and key financial institutions, regulators, agencies, and industry associations.
- The onsite stakeholder workshop engaged nine FIs from Project Agila, the Bankers Association of the Philippines, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr), and key FMIs including the Securities Clearing Corporation of the Philippines (SCCP), the Philippine Depository & Trust Corporation (PDTC), Philippine Payments Management, Inc. (PPMI), and the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corporation (PDEX).
- Workshop objectives: validate pain points in wholesale payments, assess existing and planned solutions, identify gaps and potential wCBDC use cases, explore value propositions, risks, stakeholders, and feasibility based on impact and feasibility.

### Key findings from stakeholder engagement (high level)
- Main wholesale payment landscape challenges identified (from Project Agila survey and workshop):
  - Limited settlement time for wholesale payments.
  - Need to enhance capital markets development.
  - Fragmentation and high costs of payments.
  - Inefficiency in cross-border payments.
  - Room to promote payment innovation.
- Workshop priorities and outcomes:
  - Two use cases prioritized for future Project Agila experimentation: settling of tokenized government bonds and enhancing cross-border payments.
  - Participants noted inefficiencies in settlement processes and lack of interoperability among existing payment systems.
  - Mixed interest in extending PhilPaSS plus operating hours for 24/7 settlement; concerns about resource availability and single-vendor reliance.
  - Capital market observations:
    - Total outstanding government bonds, growing at 9.11 percent year-on-year, reached PHP 10,930 billion at the end of 2024, accounting for 40.8 percent of the total local currency bond market.
    - Corporate and central bank bonds represented 5.13 and 2.96 percent of total local currency bond market, respectively.
    - Retail treasury bonds accounted for 28.7 percent of the local currency market at the end of 2024.
    - Retail investors constitute 98.5 percent of stock market accounts in the Philippines in 2023, with 17.6 percent classified as active accounts.
  - Existing/planned initiatives referenced:
    - PhilPaSS plus operates from 9:00 am to 5:45 pm Mondays through Fridays, except national holidays.
    - Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) digitalization: reduced minimum primary market purchase from PHP5,000 to PHP500; early form of tokenized treasury bonds (TTB) launched in 2023 using a permissionless, public blockchain for a bond purchase registry for targeted institutional investors.
    - Capital Market Development Council (CMDC) role in advancing the capital market via policy coordination among SEC, BTr, BSP, and private sector participants.

### Preliminary roadmap and approach
- Roadmap structured around the IMF’s “5P methodology” and organized in a multi-phase approach:
  - Foundational workstream with four action items: resource allocation, identification and alignment of policy goals, continuous stakeholder engagement, and suitability assessment.
  - Followed by research and experimentation activities focused on the two prioritized use cases: tokenized government bonds and cross-border payments.
- Mission activities supporting the roadmap:
  - Presentations on key wCBDC issues drawn from the IMF’s CBDC Virtual Handbook and tokenization projects.
  - Desk review of BSP’s sandbox testing results (Project Agila).
  - Three-day stakeholder workshop using human-centered design and Future Thinking methods to prioritize use cases, identify value propositions, and draft action items.
  - Co-design of a preliminary roadmap including action items across strategy, technology, operations, and macro-financial implications, with prioritization for short and medium terms.

### Key recommendations (extracted from Table 1)
- Resources / Project Management
  - Assign BSP staff with diverse, multi-disciplinary expertise to dedicated working teams for each identified wCBDC use case (paragraph 29). Priority: High. Timeframe: Near term.
  - Identify overlapping action items from the identified use cases in the roadmap and assess opportunities to optimize efforts and streamline process across both wCBDC use case workstreams (paragraph 30). Priority: Medium. Timeframe: Near term.
  - Examine the dependencies of the action items for each use case and allocate timeline for their completion (paragraph 31). Priority: Medium. Timeframe: Medium term.
- Communication
  - Continue to engage and communicate with stakeholders to clarify the value propositions of wCBDC’s identified use cases and gain their buy-in for the roadmap implementation (paragraph 32). Priority: High. Timeframe: Medium term.
  - Develop a joint communication strategy and outlets with key partners to ensure consistent messaging throughout various stages for implementation of each use case (paragraph 33). Priority: Medium. Timeframe: Medium term.
  - Promote public awareness and education to support digital and financial literacy, to the extent they relate to wCBDC’s policy goals (paragraph 34). Priority: Medium. Timeframe: Medium term.
- Success Measurement and Continuation of the Roadmap
  - Continue working within the IMF’s 5P methodology and establish key performance indicators (KPIs), go/no go decision points, and success metrics for each wCBDC use case to measure progress and effectiveness (paragraph 35). Priority: High. Timeframe: Medium term.
  - Continue to refine the draft of the roadmap and engage with other internal departments and external stakeholders for alignment (paragraph 36). Priority: Medium. Timeframe: Near term.
  - Ensure proper legal framework to support wCBDC’s experimentations (paragraph 37). Priority: High. Timeframe: Medium term.
  - Gather feedback and empirical data to assess and quantify the impact of government bond tokenization and wCBDC on the capital market (paragraph 38). Priority: Medium. Timeframe: Medium term.
- Product-Market Fit and Suitability
  - Define clear policy goals and develop initial hypotheses for wCBDC that could be tested and evaluated for its economic impact (paragraph 39). Priority: High. Timeframe: Near term.
  - Engage stakeholders in the co-design of a wCBDC to ensure it delivers meaningful benefits to users and supports practical, real-world applications (paragraph 40). Priority: High. Timeframe: Medium term.
  - Explore appropriate incentives and pricing structures to promote sustained adoption (paragraph 41). Priority: High. Timeframe: Medium term.
  - Research technical and economic opportunities that tokenization could concretely bring to the Philippine financial markets (paragraph 42). Priority: Medium. Timeframe: Medium term.
- Technology
  - Collaboratively undertake research on technology solutions for wCBDC and tokenization experimentations (paragraph 43). Priority: Medium. Timeframe: Near term.
  - Continue researching and implementing measures to ensure appropriate management of related digital risks, such as cyber security and operational resilience (paragraph 44). Priority: High. Timeframe: Medium term.
  - Continue to improve upon technical shortcomings, deficiencies, and risks identified in Project Agila’s sandbox (paragraph 45). Priority: High. Timeframe: Medium term.
- Timeframe definition: Near term: < 12 months; Medium term: 12 to 24 months.

### Executive summary (concise)
- Mission scope: hybrid TA mission to support BSP’s study and experimentation to determine whether wCBDC could address wholesale payment challenges.
- Workshop outputs: prioritized use cases (tokenized government bonds; cross-border payments), stakeholder feedback on payment system pain points, and a preliminary roadmap using IMF’s 5P methodology.
- Strategic priorities: allocate multidisciplinary resources, establish KPIs and go/no-go decision points, prioritize digital risk management and cybersecurity, develop legal frameworks for experimentation, explore incentives for adoption, and maintain continuous stakeholder engagement and roadmap refinement.

*IMF — Technical Assistance Report Preface*

### Box 1. BTr’s Tokenized Treasury Bonds

### Box 1. BTr’s Tokenized Treasury Bonds

### BTr’s Tokenized Treasury Bonds launch
- In November 2023, BTr, in partnership with PDAX, LandBank of the Philippines, and the Development Bank of the Philippines, launched an initial foray into Tokenized Treasury Bonds (TTBs) for qualified institutional investors.
- TTBs offered an annual fixed rate of 6.5 percent, with one-year maturity.
- Original IPO amount was PHP10 billion; due to strong demand, BTr increased the IPO amount to PHP15 billion.
- The Treasury bonds themselves are not represented and traded on a DLT; purchase information was recorded on a DLT in parallel to the existing process.
- Source: BTr and PDAX

### Fragmentation and high costs of payments
- Premise:
  - Fragmentation in payment systems arises from multiple, incompatible payment networks, standards, or providers, leading to intermediaries incurring costs that are passed to users as higher fees.
  - Example: Retail payments processed between PESONet and InstaPay incur fees because of involvement of two different CSOs for cross settlement – Bancnet, Inc. and the Philippine Clearing House Corporation (PCHC).
  - Retail transaction fees in the Philippines are higher on average compared with regional peers; most commercial banks typically charge around PHP10-25 per transaction for person-to-person transactions, with fees reaching up to PHP500 per transaction for corporate clients. Digital banks and some EMIs often do not charge fees.
- Regional retail transfer out fees (Table 2.Retail Payment System Fees in the Region):
  - Indonesia — BIFAST — Free to USD0.15
  - Malaysia — DUITNOW — Free to USD0.11
  - Philippines — INSTAPAY — USD0.14 to USD0.50
  - Singapore — PAYNOW — Free
  - Thailand — PROMPTPAY — Free to USD0.17
  - Vietnam — NAPAS — Free to USD0.22
  - Source: Payments and Commerce Market Intelligence.
- Workshop feedback:
  - Participants raised concerns about IT integration challenges from different payment systems with varying technology standards, increasing failed transactions.
  - Many commercial banks prioritize connecting to specific systems rather than all systems.
- Key existing / planned initiatives:
  - Consolidations of CSOs: Some participants suggested consolidating the two CSOs to standardize IT, operations, and compliance and lower fees.
  - Integration of ISO 20022: Adoption of ISO 20022 messaging protocol to improve interoperability and reduce transaction costs; BSP actively promoting and many FIs are near completion of integration.
  - Sharing IT resources: BSP provided IT resources to nRoss to ensure smooth integration and operations with PhilPaSS plus.
  - Bills Pay PH: An interoperability facility to streamline bill payments with no service fees, allowing payments to billers without an existing arrangement with the customer’s payment service provider.
  - Sources: BSP’s Summary of Corresponding Transfer Fees through Digital Channels; Bills Pay PH - FAQs.

### Inefficiency in cross-border payments
- Premise:
  - Wholesale cross-border payments in the Philippines face limited access, high costs, low speed, and lack of transparency due to multiple intermediaries, varying communication/data standards, cross-country regulatory compliance, and time zones. A small number of correspondent banks dominate the space.
  - For retail cross-border payments, the Philippines is a large recipient of remittances; anecdotal evidence suggests some individuals use crypto-assets for remittances or speculative purposes.
  - Chainalysis 2024 report: Philippines ranks eighth in the Global Crypto Adoption Index and seventh among countries in Central and Southern Asia and Oceania for the value of crypto assets received (period studied: July 2023 – June 2024).
- Workshop feedback:
  - Smaller banks find it difficult to compete with nonbanks or fintechs leveraging crypto assets to offer cross-border services with fewer regulatory restrictions.
  - Some participants expressed interest in reducing reliance on SWIFT to reduce costs.
- Key existing / planned solutions:
  - BSP participation in cross-border initiatives:
    - BSP is an observing member of Project mBridge (multi-wCBDC experimentation showing feasibility of rapid cross-border payment transfers). Many central banks, including BSP, adopt observer status to minimize resource commitments and geopolitical challenges.
    - BSP participates in Project Nexus (with central banks of India, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand) to develop a blueprint for connecting instant payment systems across countries.
    - BSP is part of Regional Payment Connectivity (RPC), which uses a single QR code to link and enable retail cross-border payments for ASEAN countries.
  - Harmonized ISO 20022 data requirements: BIS report encourages preparation and implementation of harmonized ISO 20022 data requirements for cross-border payments messages by 2027.
  - Sources: IMF TA report–Philippines’s Wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency Use Case Analysis (July 2023); Chainalysis’ 2024 Geography of Crypto Report; BIS report “Harmonised ISO 20022 data requirements for enhancing cross-border payments”.

### Room to foster payment innovation
- Premise:
  - Project Agila participants expressed enthusiasm for innovation driven by technology advancements, rising digital financial services demand, competitive pressures, and BSP regulatory support.
  - Opportunities highlighted include wCBDC and tokenization enabling real-time FX and securities settlement and real-time conditional payments.
- Workshop feedback:
  - Rise of crypto assets creates competitive pressure on FIs; FIs are cautious due to regulatory uncertainty around crypto-assets, blockchain, and tokenization.
  - Clarity on BSP policy direction and wCBDC development would influence the tokenization market.
- Key existing / planned solutions:
  - Access for nonbanks to PhilPaSS plus: Direct access already allowed for nonbanks with quasi-banking functions, nonbank EMIs, and government agencies. Only one nonbank EMI, OmniPay, has gained direct access so far.
  - Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP): BSP issued VASP licenses in 2020. As of January 2025, there are ten active VASPs (eight nonbanks and two banks), and three inactive VASPs. BSP closed the regular application window for new VASP for three years from September 2022.
  - Regulatory sandboxes: BSP introduced a regulatory sandbox framework in 2022. By June 2024, 13 applications received (primarily blockchain innovations), with one approval for a pilot of a PHP-backed stablecoin so far. SEC launched its Strategic Sandbox for capital market innovations.
  - Open finance initiative: BSP launched Open Finance Pilot in 2021 to test secure data sharing use cases; BSP aims to establish a comprehensive open finance framework supporting innovation with consumer protection and data security.
  - Sources: BSP Circular No. 1108; VASP.pdf; BSP’s MOU No, M-2022-035; Coins.ph; Accelerating Innovation: The Philippines’ Journey with Regulatory Sandboxes; BSP’s Circular No, 1122.

### Stakeholder opinions of potential wCBDC use cases
- Workshop synthesis:
  - Participants identified potential wCBDC use cases to address existing challenges; inefficiencies in cross-border payments identified as the most significant gap, followed by development needs in the capital market.
  - Fragmented payment systems and limited wholesale operating hours have relatively more effective solutions in existing or planning stages.
  - The outcomes reflect opinions of workshop participants with varying familiarity with tokenization and wCBDC concepts.
- Important caveat:
  - This does not imply wCBDC is more effective than alternatives or can solely solve all challenges. BSP should continue pursuing alternative solutions while exploring wCBDC use cases.
- Identified wCBDC use cases:
  - wCBDC for settling tokenized government bonds:
    - Stakeholders believe wCBDC should support BTr’s experimentation with TTBs by serving as a tokenized cash leg for settling tokenized government bonds.
    - Promising features to explore:
      - Simultaneous and conditional DvP settlements in central bank money: wCBDC as cash leg could lower principal, liquidity, credit, and settlement risks compared with commercial bank money; programmable bonds and cash legs could enable atomic DvP and automation via smart contracts for coupon/dividend distribution, auctions, mark-to-market valuations, and ownership transfers.
      - Flexible fractionalization of tokenized securities: Tokenization can enable trading of any amount of an asset, lowering minimum investment barriers, broadening investor access, enhancing bond liquidity and secondary market trading, and potentially lowering transaction costs in equity lifecycles. The BSP should assess whether flexible fractionalization would improve accessibility and whether wCBDC is necessary to support it.
    - Considerations for equities and FMI access:
      - Simultaneous equity settlement with wCBDC could support movement from DvP3 to DvP1 and address counterparty risks; SCCP would need a direct wCBDC account with the BSP. SCCP currently prefers existing commercial bank relationships despite access offers to PhilPaSS plus; the BSP could first encourage SCCP to utilize PhilPaSS plus for settling its cash leg in central bank money to align with PFMI before considering wCBDC for equity settlement.
  - wCBDC for cross-border payments:
    - Strong interest in enhancing wholesale cross-border payment efficiency; requires close collaboration with partner countries.
    - Capabilities to assess in testing:
      - Simultaneous and conditional PvP settlements in central bank money: Cross-border wCBDC on a shared platform can enable near-instantaneous, cross-currency PvP settlements, reducing time and transaction costs as shown by Project mBridge and Project Dunbar; roles of correspondent banks may change depending on FX liquidity management models.
      - Enhanced applications related to cross-border payments: Faster, lower-cost cross-border wCBDC transactions could support payments for tokenized letters of credit or invoices, improving trade finance and supply chain management.
  - Additional RTGS functionalities with wCBDC:
    - To reduce over-reliance on a single technology and enhance BCP for PhilPaSS Plus, wCBDC could be explored as a complementary system replicating RTGS functionalities such as gridlock resolution and repo transactions.
- Participants also discussed key opportunities, challenges, policy questions, and stakeholders for future work and evaluated impact and feasibility for each use case.
- Note: These outcomes are the opinions of stakeholder workshop participants (see Annex III for more details).

*Source: IMF Technical Assistance Report*

### Box 2. Alternatives to wCBDC for Settling Tokenized Assets

### Box 2. Alternatives to wCBDC for Settling Tokenized Assets

### Overview
- Central banks consider wCBDC to provide risk-free central bank money for settling tokenized assets when tokenization achieves significant adoption.
- Private-sector alternatives (e.g., tokenized bank deposits, stablecoins) remain exposed to credit risk from issuing entities.
- Most wCBDC experiments issue central bank money on a DLT-based platform for tokenized interbank payment and settlement.
- Two central-bank-developed alternatives can provide user safety without issuing new central bank money or building a new DLT platform:
  - Trigger Solution
  - Omnibus Account
- In the IMF’s G-20 Note, trigger solution and omnibus account are aligned with ‘compatible ledger platform’ and ‘common ledger platform’, respectively.

### Trigger Solution
- Core concept:
  - Communication and a technical bridge coordinate tokenized asset delivery on a private DLT platform with payment and settlement in central bank money (reserves) on the RTGS.
  - Transactions are mutually conditional: payment occurs only if asset transfer occurs, and vice versa.
  - Enables settlement on a DvP basis of tokenized assets with reserves.
- Typical architecture:
  - A “synchronization operator” facilitates communication between the asset ledger and RTGS.
- Example:
  - The Bundesbank explored a trigger solution by developing a technical bridge utilizing DLT to link market-operated DLT platforms to the Eurosystem’s traditional payment system.
  - This allows settlement of DLT-based wholesale financial transactions in central bank money in the T2 service of TARGET Services.

### Omnibus Account
- Core concept:
  - An entity acting as a licensed FMI and operating a private DLT platform holds an Omnibus Account at the central bank.
  - The entity issues a digital representation of these funds on its DLT platform, available to participating FIs.
  - On-chain tokenized money is used for payments; underlying funds are backed by and settled in central bank money via the Omnibus Account.
  - Supports programmable DLT for DvP, PvP, or other enhanced arrangements.
- Example:
  - Scheme initiated by the Bank of England in 2021 and operated by the Sterling Fnality Payment System.

### Key distinctions and implications
- Both alternatives aim to deliver central-bank-money safety without central-bank-issued tokenized money or a new DLT platform.
- Trigger solutions maintain settlement in central bank reserves via conditional synchronization with RTGS.
- Omnibus accounts place custody and issuance of on-chain tokens with a licensed FMI that holds central bank funds on an omnibus basis.
- Both approaches can support DvP; omnibus account additionally supports PvP and programmable arrangements.

### Relevance for BSP wCBDC roadmap (contextual connections in the source)
- The preliminary BSP roadmap explores wCBDC for settling tokenized government bonds and cross-border payments and assesses alternatives.
- Roadmap design and sequencing reference:
  - Foundation and two use-case workstreams with action items grouped into short-term (1 year) and medium-term (2-3 years) timeframes.
  - The BSP should evaluate feasibility, suitability, and perform cost-benefit analysis against alternatives (including trigger and omnibus approaches) before advancing PoC or prototype stages.
- Stakeholder coordination:
  - For tokenized government bonds, collaboration with the BTr and participating FIs is critical before PoC/prototype.
  - For cross-border use case, BSP and partner central bank(s) should jointly assess macro-financial, legal, and technological implications.

### Policy and operational considerations (drawn from the surrounding roadmap recommendations)
- Assessments and governance:
  - Define clear policy objectives and expected outcomes for use cases; set KPIs and go/no go decision points within the 5P methodology (Preparation, Proof-of-concept, Prototyping, Piloting, Production).
  - Ensure legal frameworks for experimentation and potential implementation of tokenized government bonds and cross-border wCBDC.
- Stakeholder engagement and communication:
  - Engage stakeholders continuously to validate value propositions, co-design solutions, and build buy-in for roadmap implementation.
  - Develop joint communication strategies with key partners (e.g., BTr and partner central banks).
- Technical and risk management:
  - Research technology solutions collaboratively and manage digital risks (cyber security, operational resilience).
  - Address technical shortcomings identified in prior sandbox work (e.g., data confidentiality, high error rates in scalability tests) and consider technology choices such as permissioned DLT.
- Product-market fit and incentives:
  - Test initial hypotheses on economic impact (e.g., reduction in settlement time and risks) and compare wCBDC with alternatives.
  - Explore incentives and pricing structures to promote adoption by FIs.

*Source: Box 2. Alternatives to wCBDC for Settling Tokenized Assets, tarea2026046 — IMF Technical Assistance Report*

### Annex I. Preliminary Roadmap

### Annex I. Preliminary Roadmap

### Legends and Planning Horizon
- Action item duration markers: 1y2y3y
- Key categorical labels used throughout the roadmap: Use Case, Phase, Workstream, Product or outcome of the phase

### Foundations (organizing, governance, scoping)
- Assign ownership to tracks (people) and a focus team for the general roadmap (dedicated officers?) TBD with management - officialize team and resources
- Identify and define policy goals for both use cases
- Validate with Stakeholders the scope and roadmap for both use cases and continue in the feedback loop

### Tokenized Government Securities — Strategic alignment and feasibility assessment
- Defining Objectives and Strategic Alignment
  - Define the objecitves for the use case and ensure alignment with policy goals
  - Coordinate with agencies and regulators (SEC, PDex, BTR) and build a joint task force
  - Develop hypothesis of benefits and opportunities that the use case could bring to the market
  - Analyze lessons learnt of wCBDC projects from other countries such as project Helvetia

- Stakeholder Engagement and Partnerships
  - Identify and map key stakeholders, assessing their potential impact on and interest in the use case
  - Define criteria for selecting relevant partners (Financial Institutions, government agencies eg.BTR)
  - Identify operational impact for involved partners / stakeholders (BTR, PDEx, Banks, Other PSPs)

- Market and user research
  - Conduct user research to identify and prioritize target user segments
  - Market analysis to define product market fit (eg with Gcash)
  - Further conduct assessment to identify key inefficiencies and validate them with stakeholders

- Assess Macro-Financial Implications
  - Assess financial stability implication of wCBDC’s use case for settling tokenized governement securities
  - Assess implications of capital flow management of wCBDC’s use case  for settling tokenized governement securities
  - Assess implications of monetary policy/ monetary operations of wCBDC’s use case  for settling tokenized governement securities
  - Develop overall strategies to mitigate macro-critical risk

- Legal and Compliance Framework
  - Assess the legal framework readiness for the use case and identify the elements and timing for any necessary future reform
  - Identify legal requirements, such as KYC/AML/CFT, legal status of asset, settlement
  - Develop AML/CTF framework to comply with domestic and international regulations
  - Assess AML implementations
  - Define the protocol mechanism to ensure compliance
  - Define mechanisms for dispute resolution

- Feasibility and Impact Evaluation
  - Develop impact evaluation including benefits and costs - feasibility
  - Impact evaluation assessment including an evaluation of the project's potential benefits, costs, and feasibility.*

- Development of PoC
  - Governance and planning: Develop and agree on high-level governance, policies, legal aspects, and other terms with partner institutions
  - Product and feature design: Design (digital) product for PoC - Eg. fractionalization of bonds
  - Develop CBDC and tokenized bonds design features to mitigate adverse macrofinancial implications

- Solution Design & implications
  - Develop models to evaluate macrofinancial implications (ex. Impacts on bond yield curve, FX regulations)
  - Evaluate technology requirements (Interoperable, scalable, programmable, real time trading, smart contracts)
  - Choose or define technical standards (communication standards such as ISO20022, Network protocols)
  - Design a development framework and timeline with stakeholders
  - Identify and design integration with non CBDC systems (interoperability with PhilPassPlus, systems of PSPs, security, provisioning (PDEx, BTR, PDTC)
  - Evaluate technology risks
  - Assess cybersecurity risks and mitigation tools/ measures
  - Assess and select vendors with stakeholder(s) (develop RFPs)
  - Assess trade-offs between 1 DLT or more

- Preparation for PoC and Prototyping
  - Design a governance model for implementation
  - Development of PoC
  - PoC development summary report*
  - Refine and Prototype solution
  - Capacity development: Create BSPs internal capacity development programs for tokenization; Create stakeholders' capacity development programs for tokenization
  - Prototype solution: Evaluate pricing for the solution and related fees for stakeholders; Create Prototype for selected users (and assess)
  - Prototype and deployment strategy*
  - Develop the pilot: Define business continuity plans
  - Design communication and literacy strategy based on the public's information needs

### Cross Border Payment — Market development and PoC with partner jurisdictions
- Market understanding
  - Market analysis and partner selection
  - Identify and map key stakeholders
  - Define criteria for selecting potential jurisdiction or country partners relevant femmitances and trade Finance
  - Refer to jurisdictions with relevant experiences
  - Selecting the two countries to focus (one for remittances and one for trade finance)
  - Assess macro-critical implications, and how to mitigate them consistently with target country goals
  - High level market overview for the two countries*

- Learning and Domestic Cooperation
  - Analyze best practices and lessons learnt from other countries
  - Identify and develop plan for cooperation with relevant domestic players and sign cooperations agreements
  - Evaluate macrofinancial/ technology implications, and form partnership

- Financial and Economic Implications
  - Assess implications of financial stability of wCBDC for the use case
  - Implications for capital control
  - Assess implications of capital flow management of wCBDC for the use case, also with target country's practices
  - Assess implications of monetary policy/ monetary operations, of wCBDC for the use case
  - Develop overall strategies to mitigate macro-critical risk
  - Develop wCBDC design features to mitigate macrorisks
  - Develop models to evaluate impact on macro-metrics (ex. impacts on bond yield curve, FX regulations)

- Legal and Regulatory Compliance
  - Assess the legal framework readiness for the use case and identify the elements and timing for any necessary future reform
  - Assess AML implementations
  - Develop AML/CTF framework to comply with domestic and international regulations
  - Define the protocol mechanism to ensure compliance
  - Identify legal requirements, such as KYC/AML/CFT, legal status of asset, settlement
  - Define mechanisms for dispute resolution
  - Check other target jurisdictions' legal frameworks to ensure they can support the use case experimentation or potential issuance of cross-border wCBDC

- Value Proposition and alternatives analysis
  - Develop hypothesis of benefits and opportunities that the use case could bring to the Philippines' market
  - Evaluate wCBDC's value propositions against other possible solutions

- Technical and operations considerations
  - Evaluate BSP technology requirements
  - Evaluate other target jurisdictions' technology requirements

- Governance and agreements
  - Develop and agree on high-level governance, policies, legal aspects, and other terms with partner institutions
  - MoU signed with the two relevant countries*

- Development of PoC — Testing and Development
  - Design a testing and developing and prioritizing scheme (one country)
  - Choose or define technical standards
  - Benchmark different implementations for the same use case
  - Design the technology, legal, and economic scheme of new arrangement with partner institution
  - Evaluate pricing for the solution and related fees for all stakeholders
  - Identify operational impact for involved partners/stakeholders
  - Assess and selecting vendor(s) with Stakeholders
  - PoC development summary report*

- Solution Design & implications (technical, legal, market)
  - Design a governance model for implementation
  - Evaluate technology risks
  - Assess Cybersecurity Risks and Mitigation Tools
  - Assess if tech supports use cases (including if 1 DLT or more)
  - Market analysis to define product market fit with stakeholders
  - Conduct user research to identify and prioritize target user segments
  - Assess integration with non-CBDC systems
  - Further conduct assessment to identify key inefficiencies & validate it with stakeholders
  - Explore innovations and business models for the evolution of the use case

- Internal and external Capacity Development
  - Design awareness and literacy strategy based on the public's information needs
  - Develop BSP internal capacity development programs
  - Develop stakeholders and market capacity development programs

### Action Items (roadmap outputs)
- Multiple deliverables identified across use cases including:
  - officialize team and resources
  - Impact evaluation and PoC development summary report*
  - Prototype and deployment strategy*
  - MoU signed with the two relevant countries*
  - High level market overview for the two countries*

*Items marked with an asterisk appear as named deliverables in the roadmap.

*Annex I. Preliminary Roadmap — IMF Technical Assistance Report*

### Annex III. Ongoing wCBDC Experimenting

### Annex III. Ongoing wCBDC Experimenting

### Projects and Use Cases — overview
- Focus: wCBDC experimentation related to tokenized bond transactions and cross-border payments.
- General finding: Most projects focus on tokenized securities and wCBDC on the same platform to facilitate better DvP settlement; experiments demonstrate positive results for technical feasibility but give less attention to comparative merits versus other options (for example, upgrading existing systems) and to technical and cyber resilience.
- Market assumption: Many experiments assume a future environment with high demand for DLT-based and tokenized financial transactions; however, "the ultimate size and sustainability of tokenized securities markets are yet to be clear."

### Tokenized Securities Payment and Settlement — key experiments and lessons
- Swiss National Bank (SNB) — Project Helvetia:
  - Participants: BIS Innovation Hub Swiss Centre, Swiss National Bank, SIX Digital Exchange.
  - Aim: Explore settlement of tokenized assets in central bank money; assess practicality and legal feasibility of using a wCBDC for such settlements.
  - Phases:
    - Phase I: Employed simulated tokenized assets and transactions to demonstrate functional feasibility and legal robustness of settling tokenized assets with wCBDC.
    - Phase II: Showed a wCBDC can be integrated with existing banking systems and an RTGS environment.
    - Phase III: Piloting real CHF wCBDC without the involvement of the BISIH. The SNB issues the wCBDC for use only on an intra-day basis on the privately operated SIX Digital Exchange; used for payment for primary market tokenized bond issuance on the same platform.
  - Next steps: SNB is monitoring the pilot, including market appetite and operational soundness, "for the next two years" before making further decisions about potential wCBDC issuance.
- Lessons for Project Agila from Project Helvetia:
  - Integration with Existing Systems: Helvetia’s experience in integrating wCBDC with existing core banking systems could inform smooth integration with the Philippines’ financial infrastructure.
  - Legal and Functional Feasibility: Helvetia’s legal and functional explorations could serve as an example, noting the need for jurisdiction-specific legal assessment.
  - PoC and Pilot Testing: The structured, phased approach offers a methodology for PoC and pilot evaluation.
- Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) — Project Acacia:
  - Status: Completed phase 1 of work in 2024; Phase 2 planned for 2025 involving testing prototypes with industry partners.
  - Findings from phase 1:
    - Technical tests found benefits in cost and risk reductions when tokenized money and assets were on the same programmable platform.
    - Atomic exchange on the same ledger enabled instantaneous, simultaneous transfers.
    - Programmability could, in theory, help improve efficiency with coupon payments on bonds.
  - Key question posed by RBA: "A key question is whether there is a need for a new form of tokenised central bank money in the form of a wholesale CBDC to maximise the benefits from asset tokenisation, or whether there are enhancements to existing infrastructure that could support settlement using ESA [RTGS] balances, perhaps complemented by privately issued tokenised money such as tokenised deposits" (p. 21).
- South African Reserve Bank (SARB) — Project Khokha phase 2:
  - Observations:
    - Single shared ledger with different access levels enabled greater oversight, easier reconciliations, and valuable real-time operational data.
    - Security and settlement tokens on DLT enabled DvP on a single network.
    - Porting the central bank’s settlement token across two platforms introduced separation between operational and legal settlement and other challenges.
  - Conclusions:
    - Issuing a token-based wCBDC on DLT created a riskless settlement asset on a platform that also serves as a payment settlement system and hosts settlement participants’ accounts as a wallet on the DLT with the central bank.
    - The true benefit and challenge may derive from business process innovation enabled by DLT rather than the technology itself.
    - Roles and functions may be consolidated but not eliminated; existing regulatory frameworks would still apply.
    - PoC issuance of DLT-based tokens exposed that such tokens are not defined in law and modular platform design raises questions about legal and regulatory updates.
- Bank of Canada (BoC) — Project Jasper Phase 3:
  - Approach: Developed a prototype integrated with existing market infrastructures, introducing securities and cash onto the ledger via Digital Depository Receipts (DDRs) created by CDS and the BoC.
  - Findings:
    - DLT platform showed effective integration via a "loose coupling" approach.
    - Enforcement of independent token issuer rules and participation restrictions via a private ledger and doorman service were feasible.
    - Real-time ledger transparency for market infrastructure and regulatory observers was achievable.
    - A credit extension mechanism for brokers outside the payment system allowed access to cash DDRs, reflecting existing credit provisions but reintroducing credit risk into a model aiming to eliminate it.
    - DLT models that significantly change current settlement systems could yield operational cost savings and reduce reconciliation efforts, but realizing these benefits may require expanding the ledger's scope to include more assets and the entire trade lifecycle.
- Banque de France (BdF):
  - Initiative: Worked with the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Société Générale – forge to settle an EIB-issued digital bond with wCBDC.
- Common caveats across projects:
  - Most projects are exploratory and central banks have not decided whether to issue wCBDC or whether wCBDC is the most suitable intervention for improving wholesale markets.
  - Addressing regulatory and legal challenges from the outset is critical for compliance and success.

### Cross-Border Wholesale CBDC Projects — key initiatives and outcomes
- Project Jura (BIS, BdF, SNB):
  - Focus: Cross-border settlement of wCBDCs.
  - Innovations: Deployment of digital currencies on third-party platforms; mechanisms like subnetworks and dual-notary signing to facilitate secure and policy-compliant transactions.
- Project Jasper-Ubin (Bank of Canada and Monetary Authority of Singapore):
  - Aim: Explore blockchain for clearance and settlement of payments and securities; enable direct currency exchanges without intermediaries.
  - Result: Demonstrated linking of two different blockchain platforms to facilitate real-time, cost-effective, and secure cross-border payments.
- Project Dunbar (BISIH with Reserve Bank of Australia, Bank Negara Malaysia, MAS, SARB):
  - Aim: Develop prototypes for shared platforms enabling banks in different countries to transact directly using multiple central bank digital currencies.
  - Result: Demonstrated feasibility of a common platform for cross-border transactions using multiple CBDCs, potentially reducing reliance on intermediaries.
- Project mBridge (BISIH with central banks of China, Hong Kong, Thailand, United Arab Emirates):
  - Aim: Create a cross-border corridor network to facilitate international trade and investment through wCBDCs using DLT.
  - Status: Reached minimum viable product (MVP) stage and broadened international reach; in October 2024 the BIS announced the project will graduate from the list of BIS IH projects.
- Common objective across cross-border projects: Address challenges and identify benefits of wCBDCs in international finance by improving efficiency, reducing costs, and enhancing speed and transparency of cross-border payments.

### Practical implications and considerations for policy and implementation
- Technical feasibility: Experiments generally show technical feasibility for DvP settlement on DLT when tokenized assets and tokenized money are on the same platform.
- Comparative assessment: Less emphasis in experiments on comparing wCBDC issuance versus enhancing existing infrastructure (for example, RTGS/ESA balances complemented by tokenised deposits).
- Legal and regulatory preparedness: Early and thorough legal and regulatory assessment is essential; some PoCs exposed gaps where DLT-based tokens are not defined in law.
- Operational and cyber risks: Attention needed on technical and cyber resilience, separation between operational and legal settlement when porting tokens across platforms, and reintroduction of credit risk where credit mechanisms are added.
- Market demand uncertainty: The ultimate size and sustainability of tokenized securities markets remain unclear; limited demand based on country size is a noted concern in stakeholder deliberations.
- Business-process innovation: Potential benefits may come as much from redesigned business processes as from the underlying DLT technology.
- Integration and interoperability: Successful pilots demonstrate the need to integrate wCBDC prototypes with existing banking systems and market infrastructures and to evaluate interoperability, participation restrictions, and platform governance.

*Source: tarea2026046 - Annex III. Ongoing wCBDC Experimenting*

### Annex IV. Figure 3. Impact and Feasibility Results After Participant Voting

### Annex IV. Figure 3. Impact and Feasibility Results After Participant Voting

### Desk review summary: Project Agila outcome report
- IMF mission team commends the BSP for the thoroughness and clarity of the Project Agila draft report and annexes.
- The mission team recommends the BSP consider publishing the project report and annexes, including key technology issues and performance metrics, to help guide other central banks.
- The mission team provided a desk review of the “Report on Project Agila Results, Technical Findings and Policy Implications” and supplemental annexes that pertained to technology aspects of the project.

### Technical recommendations (sample)
- Governance and transaction validation process using the permissioned DLT:
  - Node operating hours: Consider and clarify whether BSP node operates continuously or if banks solely handle validation during off-hours, and the risks that could arise from this.
  - Clarify the required number or percentage of validating nodes for transaction approval, and the trade-offs associated with a greater or lower number.
  - Consider the technical possibility for BSP to intervene to correct transactions when required.
  - Review risks related to granting the private financial institutions system administrator rights.
  - Clarify which financial institutions can access certificate authority nodes and assess related risks.
- Smart contract risk management:
  - Evaluate risks from allowing financial institutions to modify smart contracts on the wCBDC platform.
  - Consider how to protect the code from unauthorized changes.
- Technical challenges:
  - Address technical issues identified in the annexes (especially annexes G and E), including challenges with data confidentiality and the 89% error rate in scalability tests.
- Cybersecurity considerations (in addition to the report’s discussion):
  - Define roles among cloud service provider, solution provider, and the BSP.
  - Enhance user credential protections via access identity management (AIM).
  - Formulate policies to manage risks from third-party vendors and suppliers.
  - Implement and test incident response and recovery plans.
- Recommended external resources for BSP PMT to explore:
  - (1)BIS Report on DLT Digital Risks, (2)WEF Paper on CBDC Technology Considerations, (3)Project Leap on Quantum Computing

### Policy and macro-financial discussion highlights
- The discussion of policy and macro-financial implications is noted as carefully written.
- Sample policy-related recommendations:
  - Consider complexities around classifying CBDC and imposing holding limits (such as “waterfall” schemes and the timing of accounting limits in the 24/7 setting).
  - Soften language around the potential benefits of tokenization and wCBDC on financial markets (pages 34-37) and on financial inclusion (page 37) to reflect uncertainties and the need for country-specific analysis that accounts for the specific pain points in the market.

### BSP–IMF wCBDC medium-term capacity development workplan (selected actions, prerequisites, timeline, status)
- Action 1: IMF (MCM CO and PI, LEG FFL and FIG, ITD) TA mission (remote) on wCBDC prototype: training, documents review, preliminary assessment.
  - Prerequisites: BSP shared the data and materials necessary for a productive IMF TA mission and agreed on the project plan of activities and milestones.
  - Timeline: July 15, 2022, to February 28, 2023
  - Status: Completed
- Action 2: MCM (CO and PI) TA mission: (in-person) on wCBDC prototype; (in-person) wCBDC use-case analysis.
  - Prerequisites: BSP followed the previous TA recommendation in its development of use-cases as well shared the data and materials necessary for a productive IMF TA mission.
  - Timeline: December 1-14, 2022
  - Status: Completed
- Action 3: Follow-up IMF (MCM CO and PI; LEG FFL and FIG; and ITD) TA mission: (in-person) to take stock of the BSP implementation and agree on the updates in this workplan.
  - Prerequisites: BSP staff shared the data and materials necessary for a productive IMF TA mission and agrees on the main objective of the mission to update this workplan.
  - Timeline: November 20-23, 2023
  - Status: Completed
- Action 4: Post-mission engagements (remote) on documents for wCBDC prototype.
  - Prerequisites:
    - BSP staff shared the Project Agila systems requirement document and the sandbox operating guideline with the IMF team, which the team provided comments.
    - BSP shared the draft test plan for Project Agila that the IMF team also provided comments.
  - Timeline: January to March 2024
  - Status: Completed
- Action 5: BSP completes sandbox test of a wCBDC prototype.
  - Prerequisites: BSP follows the previous TA recommendations.
  - Timeline: By September, 2024
  - Status: Pending the development of prototype
- Action 6: BSP shares the draft of Agila’s final assessment report and IMF provides desk review (virtual).
  - Prerequisites:
    - BSP follows the previous TA recommendations.
    - BSP shares the testing results of the project.
  - Timeline: Mid-October 2024
  - Status: Pending the development of prototype and the report
- Action 7: BSP completes the final assessment report.
  - Prerequisites: BSP follows the previous TA recommendations.
  - Timeline: By January 2025
  - Status: Pending the completion of the report
- Factors that will mainly anchor the decision on whether to proceed further with wCBDC:
  - 1. The outcome of the ongoing project,
  - 2. Feedback of the payments industry based on their learnings in the project;
  - 3. Specific wCBDC use cases which shall be jointly identified by BSP and payments industry as potential mitigants to address pain points in the national payment system;
  - 4. Strategic priorities of the BSP; and
  - 5. Advice from the IMF, as the BSP’s wCBDC Project External Adviser.
- Action 8: Follow-up IMF (led by MCM PI with ITD, and CSF) TA mission on stakeholder engagement (onsite).
  - Objectives:
    - Based on the final assessment of Project Agila, the mission team assists BSP in developing a stakeholder engagement plan and assess potential use cases of wCBDC, with a focus on design implications and associated risks.
    - The mission team will provide an internal seminar to cover key issues raised by the BSP such as macro-financial implications, tokenization, and cross-border aspects of wCBDC.
    - With CSF’s support, the team plans to adopt design thinking techniques to assist the research process.
    - ITD will be tasked with the plan related to project management and technology issues.
    - The outcome of the mission will help support the BSP in crafting the wCBDC roadmap, aimed to publish in January 2025.
  - Prerequisites: BSP follows the previous TA recommendations. BSP staff share the data and materials necessary for a productive IMF TA mission and agree on the main objective of the mission to update this workplan.
  - Timeline: November 25 – December 3, 20224
  - Status: Pending the publication of the outcome report
- Action 9: BSP to draft CBDC Roadmap, which will include details on strategic initiatives that will be pursued by the BSP in collaboration with payment system stakeholders.
  - Prerequisites: BSP follows the previous TA recommendations.
  - Timeline: By January, 2025
  - Status: Planned
- Action 10: BSP to decide whether to issue a wCBDC.
  - Prerequisites: BSP follows the previous TA recommendations (specific actions the BSP is expected to take).
  - Timeline: TBD
  - Status: TBD

*Annex IV. Figure 3. Impact and Feasibility Results After Participant Voting — IMF Technical Assistance Report*

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/tar/2026/english/tarea2026046.pdf_