Unicaja, together with Abanca, Cecabank, Ibercaja and Kutxabank, has taken part in Spain’s first multi-bank proof of concept for tokenised deposits, a successfully completed milestone that demonstrates the potential of digital money to transform payment and settlement processes in the financial sector.
The participating institutions are committed to financial innovation to anticipate the sector’s evolution in the face of the adoption of blockchain-based technologies, and share the vision that these new infrastructures will, in the medium term, enable the creation of a financial ecosystem based on a more agile, faster, secure and transparent infrastructure, facilitating the development of new, higher-value services for their customers.
The trial was carried out in a closed and controlled environment, via interbank transfers of tokenised deposits between the participating institutions, using an account structure created by Cecabank to ensure the instant settlement of transactions in sync with the operations generated on the DLT network.
The results have validated the technical and operational viability of the model and represent a significant step forward for the development of the digital money ecosystem in Spain, by demonstrating the improvements this instrument can offer compared to traditional settlement processes and by establishing a shared knowledge base upon which to build further.
The trial builds on other innovation initiatives, driven in coordination with the Bank of Spain, notably the proof of concept for the issuance of a tokenised bond, carried out in 2024, thereby consolidating a track record of collaboration aimed at exploring new financial infrastructures based on DLT technology.
Projects such as Pontes and Appia, promoted by the Eurosystem, are helping to shape the future architecture of the European digital financial system, in which tokenised money is set to play a key role as a payment and settlement mechanism in digital markets.
This first tokenised deposit initiative in Spain has been orchestrated and managed by Cecabank, with strategic support from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and technological support from ioBuilders’ Asseto platform. The project, spearheaded by Unicaja, Abanca, Cecabank, Ibercaja and Kutxabank, has also involved Colonya Caixa Pollença and Caixa Ontinyent as observer institutions, which have monitored the progress and results of the trial.
Tokenised deposits
Tokenised deposits represent an evolution of the traditional bank deposit that fully preserves its legal, regulatory and accounting nature, whilst incorporating the capabilities inherent to programmable money: instant settlement, permanent availability and the automation of cash flows through smart contracts.
Unlike other forms of digital money, the tokenised deposit remains on the issuing bank’s balance sheet under the same prudential framework applicable to traditional deposits, maintaining coverage by the Deposit Guarantee Fund, the credit intermediation function and the direct contractual relationship between the bank and its customers.
