Bank of England, Singapore and Thailand link bank and blockchain rails in an FX settlement trial, with a live BoE interface due in 2028

Published Fri, 13 Nov 2026 12:27:41 UTC · Updated Sat, 14 Nov 2026 17:45:00 UTC · Edited by Bizzle · AI-assisted

⚪NeutralThis is a central-bank experiment with a live interface still years away and no direct tie to any crypto asset.News sentiment, not financial advice. It reflects the likely impact of this news, not a price prediction.

Summary

The Bank of England, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Bank of Thailand have published findings from Project Meridian FX APAC, a trial of cross-border foreign exchange settlement across traditional real-time gross settlement systems and distributed-ledger systems, The Block and CoinDesk reported.

The tests used a prototype built by Partior to coordinate payment-versus-payment settlement, where one currency moves only if the matching payment in the other currency also happens, plus multilateral netting that lets banks offset obligations to cut the liquidity they need, according to The Block.

CoinDesk says the project showed the coordination works without institutions having to adopt identical infrastructure, and frames it against stablecoins emerging as an alternative cross-border payment rail.

Both outlets report the Bank of England plans to launch a live synchronisation interface in 2028, though CoinDesk notes commercial deployment still needs work on legal arrangements, regulatory oversight and broader participation.

Key facts

Tom Mutton, the Bank of England's executive director of payments, innovation and fintech, said the project provided "practical evidence of how synchronised settlement could help reduce risk and improve efficiency in cross-border FX transactions." (CoinDesk)
The Reserve Bank of Australia and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas took part as observers; the project was announced last November. (The Block)
Partior's system matched settlement instructions, coordinated the reservation of funds, monitored payment readiness and initiated settlement. (The Block)
The accompanying policy report flagged open questions on operational resilience, settlement finality, governance, liability and cross-border data sharing, and warned that functions like holding funds or calculating net positions could change an operator's regulatory responsibilities. (The Block)
The Block dates the joint statement to Friday, Nov. 13; CoinDesk published its report on Nov. 14. (CoinDesk)