The Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub published the final report on Project Promissa, which built and tested a proof-of-concept platform to digitise and tokenise the paper-based promissory notes that countries use to manage financial commitments to multilateral development banks (MDBs). The project found that a distributed ledger-based approach can address operational bottlenecks in the promissory note lifecycle and improve efficiency, while noting that legal questions require further jurisdiction-specific work before any production deployment. The proof of concept tested a “single source of truth” record, multiparty signatures to automate approvals for lifecycle events such as issuance, encashment and archiving, confidentiality so data is visible only to involved parties, and “sovereignty” so each participant retains control over its own promissory note records. The platform implemented five lifecycle use cases (issuance, custody, scheduled encashment, updates and archiving) and was tested with participants from seven countries via central banks and, in some cases, ministries of finance, alongside MDB representation from the Asian Development Bank and World Bank Group entities (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Development Association and International Finance Corporation). Testing simulated 90 days of activity and identified no major technical issues, while the preliminary legal review highlighted areas needing further clarification including the legal status of tokenised promissory notes, holder rights, MDB privileges and immunities, participant permissibility, central bank roles and platform governance. The report sets out further work required to move beyond a proof of concept, including additional controls (such as individual access and the four-eyes principle), handling errors and other “unhappy paths”, integration with existing recordkeeping and payment systems, and non-functional requirements such as information security and availability. It also points to the need for deeper legal and compliance analysis in each jurisdiction and a clear operating model covering who would run, fund and govern any live platform.
Bank for International Settlements - Innovation Hub 2025-04-23
Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub publishes Project Promissa results on tokenising multilateral development bank promissory notes
The BIS Innovation Hub published the final report on Project Promissa, a distributed ledger proof-of-concept to digitise and tokenise paper promissory notes for countries’ commitments to multilateral development banks. Testing with seven countries and multilateral development banks found it can address operational bottlenecks and improve efficiency without major technical issues, but highlighted the need for jurisdiction-specific legal analysis and further work on controls, system integration and operating model design before deployment.