The central banks of the UK, Singapore and Thailand settle test FX trades in sync across conventional and blockchain systems, targeting the $1.4 trillion a day exposed to settlement risk

Three central banks say they have shown that a currency trade can settle at the same moment on both sides, even when each side runs on different technology. The Bank of England, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Bank of Thailand published the results of Project Meridian FX APAC on Friday.

The trial linked the three banks' test environments, covering both real-time gross settlement systems and settlement systems built on distributed ledgers. Partior, a blockchain-based clearing and settlement firm, built the "Synchronisation Operator" that coordinates the linked transfers so they happen together or not at all. The test covered payment-versus-payment settlement and multilateral netting, which lets banks offset payments and need less cash to settle. The Reserve Bank of Australia and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas took part as observers.

The problem is large. The banks cite the BIS 2025 triennial survey, which found more than $1.4 trillion a day, about 10% of FX settlement, still fully exposed to the risk that one side pays and the other does not.

The policy report flags open questions on settlement finality, liability, governance and data sharing. The authors suggest extending the work to more countries, currencies and firms, and The Block reports the Bank of England plans a live synchronization interface in 2028.