Project Rialto was a collaboration between the BIS Innovation Hub, the Bank of France, the Bank of Italy, the Bank Negara Malaysia (Central Bank of Malaysia) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The experiment targeted foreign exchange (FX)- and settlement-related frictions in retail cross-border payments (see the interim report in BISIH et al (2025)). The goal of the project was to demonstrate the technical feasibility of connecting non-tokenised payment systems with tokenised FX and settlement. The proof of concept (PoC) presented in this report integrated retail cross-border payments using interlinked instant payment systems, automated FX scheme leveraging automated market makers (AMMs) and tokenised central bank money (CeBM) as a safe settlement asset.
The PoC successfully tested a direct transaction between senders and receivers in different jurisdictions and in different currencies. It also successfully tested a transaction with a vehicle currency to address cases that involve low-liquidity currency corridors or cases in which a third currency is needed to facilitate the exchange. These two types of transactions constituted the main scenario for the PoC. In addition, variations from the successful transaction path were analysed to ensure that, even in cases of errors, malicious activity or disruption events, the integrity and resilience of the Rialto architecture were maintained.
This technical report also describes the principles and key trade-offs that need to be considered to evaluate the viability of AMM in combination with tokenised CeBM from an economic perspective vis-à-vis existing arrangements in the retail cross-border payments market segment. The key economic dimensions that would determine the viability of using AMM in an operational context are its fee structure and overall transaction costs, its performance under different market conditions, the potential impact on transparency and market integrity, and the impact on market liquidity and efficient capital utilisation by financial institutions.
The Rialto experiment proved that it is possible for retail market operators to access a technical solution that combines payment versus payment (PvP), automatic FX and settlement in tokenised CeBM with only minimal changes to current arrangements.