Four issues shaping Tokenisation programmes
The first decision is the form of money
Project Agorá combines tokenised commercial bank deposits with tokenised central bank reserves on a shared platform, preserving the safety and trust of the existing banking system. Institutions need to decide early whether their use cases call for deposit tokens, regulated payment tokens or tokenised central bank money, because each carries different legal and operating consequences.
Programmability is where operating value sits
The BIS reports that smart contracts let institutions embed workflow logic, compliance requirements and conditional payment triggers directly into transactions, which can reduce reconciliation burdens and manual intervention. The business case rests on those operating savings, not on the technology alone.
In the UAE, participation runs through licensed structures
The Payment Token Services Regulation requires issuers to obtain Central Bank approval and hold full reserves. Banks can participate as issuers, custodians, transfer agents or conversion providers through licensed subsidiaries, while the displacement of deposits is partly offset by reserves held with banks.
Controls decide whether tokenisation is bankable
Project Agorá is examining how tokenised reserves and deposits can comply with existing rules on settlement finality, anti-money laundering and data privacy. The same questions, together with custody and key management, decide whether a tokenised product can reach production.
What our Tokenisation advisory
delivers
01
Tokenisation strategy and use-case selection
02
Form-of-money and platform options assessment
03
Legal and settlement-finality analysis
04
Regulatory and licensing mapping
05
Prudential, capital and liquidity assessment
06
Custody, key-management and smart-contract controls
07
AML, sanctions and Travel Rule design
08
Proof-of-concept to production roadmap
How an engagement works
Assess
Identify use cases, constraints and regulatory exposure.
Design
Select the form of money, platform and control framework.
Deliver
Support proof of concept, build and go-live.
Tokenisation Labs is a strategic initiative by Payment Labs focused on the future of digital money, tokenisation and programmable financial infrastructure. We explore stablecoins, tokenised bank deposits, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), programmable assets and the payment and settlement infrastructure enabling the next generation of financial services.
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As banks, financial institutions, fintechs and payment service providers navigate the transition towards digital assets and programmable money, Tokenisation Labs examines the technologies, interoperability standards, regulatory frameworks and operating models shaping their adoption.