Chainlink has joined a multinational banking initiative involving 47 European and South Korean banks to develop near real-time cross-border foreign exchange settlement, marking one of the largest institutional experiments yet in stablecoin-based payment infrastructure.
The initiative, called Project Pangea, brings together Chainlink, Qivalis and UniKA to test atomic payment-versus-payment settlement between euro- and Korean won-denominated stablecoins. Qivalis is a euro stablecoin consortium backed by 37 European banks, while UniKA represents more than 10 South Korean commercial banks. Together, the participating institutions represent more than $10 trillion in assets.
The project is focused on replacing the traditional T+2 settlement cycle for foreign exchange transactions with near real-time, or T+0, settlement. In the existing system, cross-border currency trades can take up to two business days to settle, creating counterparty risk, liquidity costs and operational friction. Project Pangea aims to use regulated stablecoins and blockchain-based rails so both sides of a currency transaction settle simultaneously or not at all.
The initial focus is the Europe-South Korea corridor, which processes more than $150 billion in goods and services annually. The corridor gives banks a defined commercial use case for testing stablecoin settlement while avoiding the broader complexity of launching a fully global payments network from the start.
Banks Test Stablecoins Inside Existing Systems
Project Pangea is designed to work with existing banking infrastructure rather than replace it outright. Chainlink’s technology is expected to connect traditional messaging standards, including Swift and ISO 20022, with blockchain-based settlement rails. That design would allow banks to trigger transactions through familiar systems while using distributed ledger technology for settlement finality.
The use of atomic payment-versus-payment is central to the model. Under that structure, the euro and won legs of a transaction are exchanged at the same time, reducing the risk that one party delivers funds while the other fails to complete settlement. For banks, that could reduce trapped capital, lower reconciliation costs and improve liquidity management in cross-border transactions.
Chainlink has positioned the project as more than a proof of concept. Niki Ariyasinghe, Chainlink’s vice president for Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, said participants are targeting compliant live transactions within a legal and regulatory framework within the next 12 months. That timeline suggests the consortium is moving toward practical deployment goals rather than a purely research-driven pilot.
Regulatory Standards Will Decide Adoption
The project comes as stablecoins move deeper into institutional finance, particularly for settlement, collateral and tokenized cash use cases. While retail stablecoin adoption has been strongest in crypto markets and emerging payment corridors, banks are increasingly examining regulated stablecoins as tools for wholesale settlement and foreign exchange.
The regulatory implications are significant. Any live system would need to satisfy banking, payments, anti-money-laundering, sanctions, capital and settlement-finality requirements across multiple jurisdictions. The involvement of established banks may help address institutional compliance concerns, but it also raises the standard for legal enforceability, reserve quality and operational resilience.
For Chainlink, Project Pangea strengthens its role as middleware for institutional tokenization and cross-border settlement rather than only a decentralized oracle network for crypto applications. For banks, the initiative offers a way to test stablecoin infrastructure without abandoning existing messaging systems or internal compliance controls.
The broader market impact will depend on whether Project Pangea can move from controlled testing to live transactions at meaningful volume. If successful, it could provide a template for tokenized cash settlement across other trade corridors, accelerating the shift from delayed correspondent banking flows toward programmable, near real-time financial infrastructure.