BIS (Bank for International Settlements)

The Bank for International Settlements, established in 1930 and headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, serves as the bank for central banks, fostering international monetary and financial cooperation and serving as a forum for central bank dialogue, research, and standard-setting.

BIS plays a central coordinating role in the global response to digital assets and central bank digital currencies through multiple channels. The BIS Innovation Hub operates innovation centers in Switzerland, Singapore, Hong Kong, London, Toronto, Stockholm, and New York, conducting experimental projects on wholesale CBDCs, cross-border payments, tokenization, and financial crime detection. Project Hertha developed real-time financial crime pattern detection in retail payment systems, while Project Agorá explores tokenized commercial bank deposits and wholesale CBDC for cross-border settlements.

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, hosted by BIS, published the global prudent standard for bank exposures to crypto assets in December 2022, requiring banks to hold capital equal to 100% of their holdings for unbacked crypto assets like Bitcoin. BIS research and working papers provide influential analysis on crypto asset risks, stablecoin stability mechanisms, DeFi vulnerabilities, and the implications of tokenization for monetary policy transmission and financial stability.