CBDC Ready Core Banking | Digital Currency | CoreFi

In 2025, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) brought together 7 central banks and 41 financial institutions in Project Agorá — the most ambitious experiment yet in combining wholesale central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) with tokenized commercial bank deposits on a "unified ledger." Brazil's Drex CBDC moved from pilot to production planning, designed to coexist with tokenized bank deposits. Australia's Project Acacia, powered by Fireblocks, explored wholesale CBDC architecture for real-time institutional settlements.

These aren't theoretical exercises. They represent the most significant shift in monetary infrastructure since the move from paper to electronic records — and they have profound implications for every core banking platform in operation today.

For bank strategists and technology leaders, the challenge is clear: CBDCs and tokenized deposits are coming, but their exact form, timeline, and technical requirements remain uncertain. How do you prepare your infrastructure without over-investing in a specific implementation that may not match the final standard?

The CBDC Landscape in 2026

Over 130 countries, representing 98% of global GDP, are now exploring CBDCs in some form. But the landscape is far from uniform — different regions are pursuing fundamentally different architectures.

Wholesale CBDCs — designed for interbank settlements and institutional transactions — are the most advanced. They don't replace consumer-facing money; they modernize the plumbing that moves money between banks. Project Agorá, the ECB's experiments, and Australia's Project Acacia all focus on this model.

Retail CBDCs — digital currency held directly by consumers — are more politically complex and further from implementation in most Western economies. The ECB's digital euro remains in the preparation phase, with technical details still being defined.

Tokenized deposits — not technically CBDCs, but closely related — represent commercial bank money on blockchain infrastructure. Banks issue tokens representing deposits in their institution, which can settle on shared DLT platforms. This model preserves the two-tier banking system (central bank money + commercial bank money) while gaining blockchain's settlement efficiency.

The distinction between these three models matters enormously for core banking infrastructure. A platform built only for retail CBDC distribution may not support wholesale CBDC settlement. A system designed for tokenized deposits may need modification for direct CBDC integration. The safest approach is architectural flexibility — building capabilities that support all three models.

Project Agorá: The Unified Ledger Vision

Project Agorá deserves particular attention because it represents the most comprehensive vision for how CBDCs and tokenized deposits might work together.

Led by the BIS Innovation Hub with participation from the central banks of France, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, Agorá explores a "unified ledger" where:

• Wholesale CBDC issued by central banks represents the settlement layer — the most trusted form of digital money
• Tokenized commercial bank deposits represent the transaction layer — the money that businesses and individuals actually use
• Smart contracts enable programmable settlement, delivery-vs-payment, and complex multi-party transactions
• Interoperability between jurisdictions allows cross-border settlements without correspondent banking intermediaries

The 41 financial institutions participating in Project Agorá include major global banks that collectively represent trillions in assets. Their participation signals that the unified ledger concept is being taken seriously at the highest levels of institutional finance.

For core banking platforms, the Agorá model implies a world where bank deposits exist in two forms simultaneously: traditional ledger entries and tokenized representations on a shared infrastructure. Managing this dual existence — maintaining consistency between on-chain tokens and off-chain records — becomes a core requirement.

Brazil's Drex: A Live Case Study

While most CBDC projects remain in the pilot phase, Brazil's Drex has advanced further than almost any other major-economy CBDC, offering a real-world preview of what core banking systems need to support.

Drex is designed as a wholesale CBDC that coexists with tokenized bank deposits. The architecture is deliberately two-tier:

• The Central Bank of Brazil issues Drex as wholesale digital currency on a DLT platform
• Commercial banks issue tokenized deposits (Real Digital tokens) that are backed by and redeemable for Drex
• End users interact with tokenized deposits through their banks, not directly with the CBDC

This model preserves the commercial banking system's role in credit creation, customer relationships, and risk management — while adding blockchain-based settlement efficiency, programmability, and interoperability.

For core banking platforms, Drex illustrates several concrete requirements:

• Dual representation: The system must maintain both traditional deposit records and their tokenized representations, with real-time synchronization
• DLT integration: Connection to the central bank's DLT platform for settlement of tokenized deposits against wholesale CBDC
• Smart contract support: Ability to participate in programmable transactions — conditional payments, atomic swaps, delivery-vs-payment — defined by smart contracts on the shared platform
• Regulatory reporting: New reporting requirements specific to tokenized deposits and CBDC transactions

The ECB Digital Euro: Preparing for Uncertainty

The European Central Bank's digital euro project is arguably the most consequential CBDC initiative for European financial institutions, yet it remains in the preparation phase with key design decisions still open.

What we know:

• The digital euro will be a retail CBDC — digital cash for everyday transactions
• It will be distributed through banks and payment service providers, not directly by the ECB
• There will be holding limits to prevent disintermediation of commercial bank deposits
• It will need to work offline for basic transactions
• Privacy protections will be incorporated, with varying levels of anonymity for different transaction types

What remains uncertain:

• The specific technology stack (though DLT-based solutions are likely for settlement)
• The exact role of commercial banks in the distribution chain
• Compensation models for banks that distribute the digital euro
• Timeline for full rollout (preparation phase could extend into 2028 or beyond)

For core banking platforms serving European institutions, this uncertainty is itself a design constraint. Systems must be built to accommodate a range of possible digital euro implementations, not optimized for a single predicted architecture.

What Core Banking Platforms Need: Technical Requirements

Based on the patterns emerging from Project Agorá, Drex, Project Acacia, and the ECB's digital euro, core banking platforms will need several capabilities to be CBDC-ready:

1. Multi-Asset, Multi-Rail Ledger

The core ledger must support multiple forms of money simultaneously:

• Traditional fiat deposits (EUR, USD, etc.)
• Tokenized deposits (blockchain-based representations of commercial bank money)
• CBDC holdings (wholesale CBDC received from the central bank for settlement, and potentially retail CBDC for distribution)
• Stablecoins (private-sector digital currencies like USDC)

These different forms of money must coexist on a single ledger with unified accounting, real-time position management, and consistent compliance controls. A system that treats CBDCs as an external asset class — bolted on through API integration — will struggle with the real-time synchronization requirements of a unified ledger model.

2. DLT Integration Layer

Connection to central bank and shared DLT platforms is essential. This requires:

• Node operation or gateway access to the relevant DLT network(s)
• Smart contract interaction — the ability to deploy, invoke, and monitor smart contracts for settlement, escrow, and programmable payments
• Event-driven architecture — the core banking system must react to on-chain events (settlement confirmations, token transfers, smart contract executions) in real time
• Multi-chain support — different CBDCs may use different DLT platforms, and the system must support multiple simultaneously

3. Tokenization Engine

For banks that issue tokenized deposits (as in the Drex model), the core banking platform needs:

• Minting and burning: Creating tokens when deposits are made and destroying them when deposits are withdrawn
• 1:1 backing verification: Ensuring every tokenized deposit is fully backed by reserves held at the central bank or in approved assets
• Transfer management: Processing token transfers between institutions while maintaining KYC/AML compliance
• Reconciliation: Continuous reconciliation between on-chain token balances and off-chain deposit records

4. DORA-Compliant Infrastructure

The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), effective since January 2025, applies to all EU financial entities and their ICT providers. For CBDC-related infrastructure, DORA has specific implications:

• Blockchain nodes and DLT infrastructure are ICT systems subject to DORA's resilience requirements
• HSMs and key management systems used for DLT participation must meet operational resilience standards
• Third-party risk management applies to DLT infrastructure providers, custody partners, and smart contract audit firms
• Incident reporting requirements extend to DLT-related operational disruptions

Many crypto infrastructure providers are not yet DORA-compliant — a gap that creates risk for banks relying on them for CBDC infrastructure. Core banking platforms that embed DORA compliance into their blockchain components offer a significant advantage.

5. Privacy and Data Protection

CBDCs raise complex privacy questions. The digital euro, in particular, is being designed with privacy as a core feature. Core banking platforms must support:

• Tiered privacy: Different levels of transaction privacy depending on amount, type, and parties involved
• Data minimization: Collecting only the data necessary for compliance, not retaining full transaction details when not required
• Zero-knowledge proofs or similar technologies: Supporting privacy-preserving compliance checks where required by the CBDC architecture

Preparing Without Over-Investing

The temptation for banks and their technology providers is to wait — to hold off on CBDC preparation until the standards are finalized and the implementation requirements are clear. This is a mistake, but so is the opposite extreme of building to a specific CBDC specification that may change.

The pragmatic approach is to invest in foundational capabilities that support CBDC readiness without being tied to a specific implementation:

Invest in multi-asset ledger architecture. Whether the digital euro uses Ethereum, Hyperledger, or a custom DLT, your core ledger needs to support multiple asset types natively. This capability has immediate value for stablecoins and tokenized securities, regardless of CBDC timelines.

Build DLT integration expertise. The ability to connect with blockchain networks, interact with smart contracts, and process on-chain events is a horizontal capability that applies to stablecoins, tokenized deposits, and CBDCs alike.

Invest in tokenization capabilities. Tokenized deposits — the most likely near-term application — require tokenization infrastructure that can also support stablecoin issuance and RWA tokenization. Building this capability now generates immediate revenue from tokenized products while positioning for future CBDC integration.

Ensure DORA compliance for all DLT components. This is a regulatory requirement today, not a future consideration. Any blockchain infrastructure used in banking must meet DORA's operational resilience standards.

Monitor and participate in central bank pilots. Active engagement with ECB consultations, national pilot programs, and industry working groups ensures your platform's architecture evolves in alignment with emerging standards.

The CoreFi Approach to CBDC Readiness

At CoreFi, our approach to CBDC readiness reflects the pragmatic strategy outlined above. Rather than building to a specific CBDC specification, we're investing in foundational capabilities that serve multiple use cases:

• Our multi-asset ledger already supports fiat currencies and tokenized assets on a single platform, providing the foundation for adding CBDC and tokenized deposit capabilities
• Our tokenization module provides the infrastructure for issuing and managing tokenized deposits — the most likely first step in the CBDC journey for most European banks
• Our modular, API-first architecture enables integration with emerging DLT platforms as central banks finalize their technology choices
• Our EU-based compliance framework ensures DORA compliance and alignment with European regulatory expectations from the ground up

The institutions that will be best positioned when CBDCs arrive are those that invested in flexible, multi-asset infrastructure today. Not because they predicted the exact architecture, but because they built platforms capable of adapting to whatever architecture emerges.

The digital euro may arrive in 2028, 2029, or later. Tokenized deposits, stablecoins, and blockchain-based settlement are available now. The smart strategy is to prepare for the future by building capabilities that generate value in the present.

Want to ensure your banking infrastructure is CBDC-ready?

CoreFi provides modular core banking with native tokenization and multi-asset ledger capabilities — the foundation for CBDC readiness. Contact us to discuss how to prepare your platform for the digital money future.