Project Promissa: tokenization of promissory notes (BIS)

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub published a report on Project Promissa, a proof of concept (POC) that explored promissory note tokenization on a distributed ledger technology (DLT) based platform, in partnership with the Swiss National Bank and World Bank. Member country payments to multilateral development banks are usually paid in cash or by paper-based promissory notes. The current manual processing of the latter’s life cycle events (issuance, encashment, updates and archiving), are time-consuming, cumbersome and require constant reconciliation. The POC effectively addressed key pain points, with no major issues technical identified, but further study of the legal aspects identified in the preliminary review is needed before moving beyond the POC phase. [Read more at the BIS]

PayPal unlocks rewards for holding PayPal USD stablecoins (PayPal)

Starting in Summer 2025, PayPal will pay U.S. users 3.7% annually in rewards on holdings of PayPal USD (PYUSD) in their PayPal or Venmo wallets. Users will be able to immediately use any rewards received to send to other users, fund international transfers, exchange for fiat, or make purchases at millions of merchants with PayPal Checkout. [Read more at PayPal]

And just a reminder that I produce a monthly digest of central bank digital currency (CBDC) developments exclusively for the official sector. So (only) if you work at a central bank, ministry of finance or international financial institution (e.g., the BIS, IMF, OECD, World Bank) and who would like to receive it by email on the first business day of every month, please DM me on LinkedIn or email me at john@kiffmeister.com.