Central banks are experimenting with smart contracts to implement monetary policy in tokenized environments, signaling a growing interest in integrating blockchain technology into traditional finance (TradFi).

According to a joint research study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Innovation Center and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub Swiss Centre, smart contracts could offer central banks flexible, rapid-response tools in a tokenized financial system.

The study, dubbed Project Pine, tested a prototype “generic customizable monetary policy tokenized toolkit” for further research by central banks, according to a BIS report published May 15.

“The smart contract toolkit was fast and flexible,” the BIS wrote. “In hypothetical scenarios, the central bank was able to add and change tools instantly.”

The report emphasized that if tokenization becomes widely adopted for money and securities, smart contracts could play a central role in how monetary policy is executed.

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This marks a “first step” in highlighting the potential benefits of tokenization for central banks, according to the BIS.

The framework “speed and consistency” was “validated” within a 10-minute hypothetical scenario where central banks quickly changed collateral criteria and exchanged liquid collateral for illiquid amid falling collateral values.

The smart-contract framework also allowed central banks to deploy a new facility offering reserves and changing the interest rates on the reserves in an “immediate” implementation.

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Smart contracts, tokenization may help central banks

Smart contracts and tokenization technology may help central banks’ rapid response to “extraordinary events,” the BIS report said:

“This speed, coupled with the ability to adjust any of the parameters at any time, gives central banks flexibility in responding to unforeseen events and fast-moving crises.”

While promising, the report also acknowledged that central banks will likely face infrastructure challenges, as most existing systems are not designed for these advanced use cases.

Project Pine employed Ethereum’s ERC-20 token standard combined with another standard for “access control.”

Financial institutions have increasingly embraced tokenization in recent years.

At the Consensus 2025 conference, Joseph Spiro, product director at DTCC Digital Assets, called stablecoins the “perfect” financial instrument for real-time collateral management for financial transactions such as loans or derivatives.

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