RWA's real opportunity is atomic settlement—moving money, collateral, and ownership records simultaneously—not tokenizing individual assets; BNY Mellon targets 24/7 settlement for treasuries by 2027.
RWA & Tokenization ·
In the BIS-led Project Agorá, 28 banks tested cross-border transfers across six currencies using tokenized reserves and deposits, with the goal of settling transactions atomically—moving money, collateral records, and ownership simultaneously rather than sequentially. BNY Mellon aims to enable around-the-clock settlement for US treasuries by 2027, addressing what institutions actually care about: eliminating settlement risk, reconciliation overhead, and multi-day waiting periods. The value proposition of real-world assets hinges not on tokenization itself but on synchronized movement of funds, collateral, ownership documentation, and compliance controls within a single transaction.