The initiative reflects the participating institutions’ commitment to financial innovation and their ability to anticipate the sector´s evolution through the adoption of blockchain-based technologies that enable the development of new value-added services for clients.
The pilot marks a significant step forward in the development of Spain’s digital money ecosystem and highlights the key role of tokenised money as a payment and settlement mechanism in digital markets.
The initiative has established a shared knowledge base that will support further progress.
ABANCA, Cecabank, Ibercaja, Kutxabank and Unicaja have successfully completed Spain’s first multi-bank proof of concept for tokenised deposits, a milestone that demonstrates the potential of digital money to transform payment and settlement processes across the financial sector.
The participating institutions are committed to financial innovation as a means of anticipating the industry´s evolution in response to the adoption of blockchain-based technologies. They share the view that, over the medium term, these new infrastructures willenable the development of a more agile, efficient, secure and transparent financial ecosystem, while facilitating the creation of new high-value services for their clients.
The pilot was conducted in a closed and controlled environment through interbank transfers of tokenised deposits between the participating institutions. The process relied on an account structure created by Cecabank to ensure instant settlement of transactions in synchronisation with operations executed on the DLT network.
The results validated the model´s technical and operational feasibility and represent a significant step forward in the development of Spain’s digital money ecosystem. They demonstrate the advantages that tokenised deposits can offer over traditional settlement processes, while also establishing a shared knowledge base to support future initiatives.
The pilot builds on previous innovation projects, including the proof of concept for the issuance of a tokenised bond developed in 2024 in coordination with the Banco de España, further consolidating a track record of collaboration focused on exploring new DLT-based financial infrastructures.
Projects such as Pontes and Appia, promoted by the Eurosystem, are helping to shape the future architecture of Europe’s digital financial system, where tokenised money is expected to play a fundamental role as a payment and settlement mechanism in digital markets.
This first tokenised deposit initiative in Spain was orchestrated and managed by Cecabank, with strategic support Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and the technological backing of ioBuilders’ Asseto platform. In addition to ABANCA, Cecabank, Ibercaja, Kutxabank and Unicaja, Colonya Caixa Pollença and Caixa Ontinyent participated as observer institutions, monitoring the pilot programme progress and outcomes.
Tokenised deposits:
Tokenised deposits represent an evolution of the traditional bank deposit, fully preserving its legal, regulatory and accounting nature while incorporating the capabilities associated with programmable money, including instant settlement, continuous availability and workflow automation through smart contracts.
Unlike other forms of digital money, a tokenised deposit remains on the balance sheet of the issuing bank under the same prudential framework applicable to traditional deposits. It therefore retains deposit guarantee scheme protection, the credit intermediation function and the direct contractual relationship between the institution and its clients.
