pilot

The Governor of the People's Bank of China, Pan Gongsheng, stated at the 2026 Financial Street Forum Annual Meeting that it will pilot further facilitation for foreign financial institutions to conduct RMB purchase and sale operations in the domestic foreign exchange market.The People's Bank plans to allow 8 domestic and foreign RMB offshore clearing banks to conduct proprietary trading in the domestic interbank foreign exchange market, promoting the integrated development of onshore and offshore markets.

According to the official announcement from Mitsubishi UFJ Trust Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust Bank, in collaboration with Mitsubishi UFJ Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Mizuho Bank, and TISI, completed an empirical experiment on the joint issuance of yen stablecoins and optimization of cross-border payments from July 17 to 23, 2026.This experiment was supported by the Financial Services Agency's "Fintech Empirical Experiment Hub - Payment Enhancement Project," verifying the feasibility of a multi-bank joint issuance stablecoin model and exploring the application potential of blockchain technology in international remittances and inter-company payments. The results of the experiment showed that the issuance and circulation of stablecoins are operationally feasible, providing important references for the future social implementation of digital payment services and blockchain financial assets.

In July 2026, the internet infrastructure company Cloudflare launched a research pilot with OpenAI to test whether Cloudflare's network signals could help ChatGPT users discover new content more efficiently. Both parties reported positive early results, with the pilot incorporating previously unknown pages into OpenAI's search index, providing ChatGPT with more sources to reference.The pilot utilized about 1% of Cloudflare's global participation queue, allowing OpenAI to discover and index hundreds of millions of new web pages. OpenAI independently evaluated and ranked these pages based on relevance and usefulness, while ChatGPT Search enabled users to view original content and publishers through backlinks. Observations indicated that automated traffic might make non-existent pages appear noteworthy, with some sites redirecting arbitrary addresses to their homepage and others pointing to duplicate content. Both parties are also testing signals to identify potentially harmful pages, such as fake login pages embedded on legitimate sites, advocating for the marking of single pages rather than entire domains.Related signals are also used to filter out non-existent or redirecting pages and to assess whether unchanged pages are worth revisiting. Page signals do not constitute access permission; the study utilized web metadata for search and discovery rather than using page content for model training. Site owners can understand and manage how AI systems access their websites through Cloudflare's AI Crawl Control. The next phase will improve page selection and test faster, more reliable change signals.

According to official news from Visa, the stablecoin pre-funding capability of Visa Direct has transitioned from the pilot phase to commercial deployment. Payment infrastructure provider Inyo Global has become the first service provider to put this functionality into production, supporting eligible Visa Direct clients and partners.

Citibank stated in its official insights report "Digital Frontier: Collateral in a Tokenized World" that as financial markets accelerate towards continuous, around-the-clock operations, collateral management is undergoing a structural evolution. Institutional-level tokenization is moving beyond isolated proof of concepts to establish scalable operational tracks on global banking, custody, and market infrastructure, making collateral a continuous liquidity and optimization engine.Citibank mentioned that combining tokenized assets with regulated on-chain settlement currencies can achieve instant atomic cash-to-cash transactions, eliminating multi-day gap risks and expanding the range of eligible collateral to include tools like tokenized money market funds. Global asset managers and asset owners will unify traditional and digital collateral into a single, continuously optimized inventory over many years of hybrid operating models, covering counterparties, custodians, and settlement venues.

According to PR Newswire, NFT Limited (stock code MI, formerly known as Takung Art), a company listed on the NYSE American, announced the proposed technical agreement RWAIX in Hong Kong on October 13 and released an open-source reference implementation on GitHub under the MIT license. The company operates an online trading platform for international artworks and collectibles, stating that the agreement is intended to allow buyers, sellers, AI agents, and robots to verify identities, confirm agreements, and ensure that deliveries actually occur, with the existing digital art platform intended to serve as the first real-world scenario.The company claims that internally managed test records show 50 tests passed with no failures, and it plans to launch a limited live pilot within 90 days after completing an independent security review and other conditions, targeting the first quarter of 2027. The reference implementation includes core protocol logic in Node.js, 50 automated test cases with expected outputs, schema and API documentation, as well as a browser demonstration using synthetic data. The company also stated that RWAIX has not yet been integrated into the production environment, and the related timeline may still be adjusted.The existing digital art trading platform is operated by its wholly-owned Hong Kong subsidiary, Metaverse Digital Payment Co., Limited. The pilot aims to first upgrade the consent purchase, delivery, independent verification, payment, and dispute resolution processes for an existing NFT order, using existing banking channels. CEO Yanying Wang stated that the company already has customers, orders, and payments, and plans to verify within the next 90 days whether the agreement can be used for real customer orders.

Tesla is downplaying the name Full Self-Driving to seek approval for its driver assistance system in Europe. Tesla has used the name "Tesla Assisted Driving" on its European website, while the U.S. website still refers to it as "Full Self-Driving (Supervised)."

ChainCatcher live report, at the OKX NOW Global Products and Ecosystem Conference (Singapore), the OKX AI team elaborated on its core philosophy, which is "AI and finance start with the user": AI needs to understand user intent, respect the boundaries set by users, and return to the user at decision points that require human judgment.Based on this philosophy, the team stated that they have built a complete set of capabilities to help AI entities scale from "intelligence" to "action": the Agent Trade Kit allows users' AI entities to connect directly to OKX exchange data and execute trades; the On-chain OS supports operating on-chain assets using natural language, the Agentic Wallet allows funding to be allocated to the AI within preset guardrails; the OKX AI entity marketplace supports subscribing to signals from professional trading entities and authorizing copy trading; developers can monetize their own models through the AI Builder program.

Lloyds Banking Group and Visa completed their first stablecoin settlement test, settling a total of $750,000 in Visa payment obligations using USDC within 7 days, with funds arriving in as little as one hour.

According to The Defiant, the British banking group Lloyds and payment giant Visa completed a $750,000 USDC transfer in a cross-border settlement pilot. The test lasted seven days, with funds transferred from Jersey to the United States, taking less than an hour in total, and could also be completed over the weekend.During the settlement process, Lloyds used the Canton network, while Visa utilized another independent blockchain. The pilot completed cross-border fund transfers using the stablecoin USDC.

According to a report by crypto.news, Chainlink announced the launch of a connectivity framework that allows banks to access the SWIFT blockchain ledger through the Chainlink platform while retaining transaction signing keys.The framework coordinates the interaction between institutional systems and ledgers through the Chainlink runtime environment, allowing banks using a self-signing model to avoid handing over authorization keys to Chainlink. The SWIFT ledger supports 24/7 tokenized deposit payments, with final settlements still completed through existing real-time gross settlement mechanisms. Seventeen banks from six continents, including ANZ, HSBC, Citibank, Standard Chartered, and UBS, are preparing to pilot tokenized deposits on the SWIFT ledger.

According to Bloomberg, the UK digital bank Revolut launched the UK's first facial recognition checkout system "Pay with Smile" on September 23, allowing customers to complete payments in-store through facial recognition.This feature operates on the Revolut Register terminal, where users can complete facial identity verification by clicking "Pay with Smile" on the screen during checkout, a process similar to unlocking a smartphone or accessing a banking app. Facial data is end-to-end encrypted, merchants do not store personal data, and users must actively choose to opt-in in the Revolut app settings, with the ability to withdraw consent at any time. Revolut charges a 0% processing fee for Pay with Smile transactions to alleviate the burden on independent merchants.The pilot will take place from September 24 to 26 at three Kiss the Hippo cafes in Bloomsbury, Chelsea, and Soho in London, with plans to roll out the feature to all 12 locations later this year. Sales promotion for the Revolut Register terminal will be launched at the appropriate time.

According to The Information, Microsoft (MSFT.O) will increase the discount on Copilot while launching an AI "super app."

The Bank of Korea (BOK) has launched the first 24-hour Korean won settlement network pilot, aimed at allowing foreign investors to settle won transactions outside of normal banking hours in South Korea. The central bank announced on Monday that its international wire transfer network has begun trial operations with four domestic banks: KB Kookmin Bank, Woori Bank, Hana Bank, and Shinhan Bank. Full operations are expected to start in January 2027, at which point participation will expand to other institutions and foreign banks.The network operates 24 hours a day on weekdays, excluding weekends and public holidays. Foreign investors can settle won transactions during their domestic business hours by registering a Foreign Institution (RFI-K) account for won services, without the need to open an account directly with a South Korean financial institution. The Bank of Korea stated that the network is expected to enhance the international status of the won by improving foreign investors' access to won settlement infrastructure.In addition, the Bank of Korea is also experimenting with tokenized settlement infrastructure through the Agorá project led by the Bank for International Settlements, which completed a cross-border payment trial using tokenized central bank reserves and commercial bank deposits, including the won, in July. The Bank of Korea is simultaneously advancing the Hangang project, a blockchain-based pilot that utilizes wholesale central bank digital currency to settle tokenized commercial bank deposits.

The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Xu Zhengyu, stated at a press conference on financial development measures for the first five-year plan for economic and social development and the Chief Executive's 2026 Policy Address that digital assets and financial technology are new growth engines for Hong Kong, with digital bonds issued in Hong Kong accounting for about 50% of the global share.Before the end of 2026, a pilot program for the tokenization of Exchange Fund Bills will be implemented, and the Central Moneymarkets Unit (CMU) will establish a digital asset platform within 2026 to provide one-stop services for digital bond issuance and settlement. In terms of regulation and market development, this includes improving the licensing system for virtual assets, enhancing the regulatory framework for tokenized investment products, promoting the trading of regulated stablecoins on licensed platforms, and encouraging the expansion of compliant stablecoin application scenarios.

According to CoinDesk, the European Central Bank (ECB) called on e-commerce and mobile commerce merchants in the Eurozone on Tuesday to participate in the digital euro pilot program, preparing for the potential issuance of a retail central bank digital currency in 2029. The pilot will test the technology, operational processes, and user experience of the currency's beta version, which, while similar to the digital euro, is not legal tender.The pilot will last for 12 months and is scheduled to launch in the second half of 2027, with the final issuance still requiring legislative and management committee decisions. In the weeks prior, the European Central Bank selected 36 banks and payment institutions to participate in the testing phase. The pilot will involve the European Central Bank, the central banks of 19 Eurozone countries, and selected merchants, with central bank staff testing scenarios such as online and offline transfers between individuals, in-store payments, e-commerce, and mobile commerce payments.European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde stated that the digital euro is essential for maintaining European monetary sovereignty and reducing dependence on dollar-pegged stablecoins. The European Central Bank believes that the proliferation of private dollar stablecoins like Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC poses a threat to European monetary autonomy. Isadora Arredondo, Vice President of Global Policy at Hedera, stated that the success of the digital euro depends more on commercial viability, and merchants need incentives, while payment service providers may consider lowering the fees for merchants accepting digital euro payments.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) announced on Thursday that three issuers raised a total of 102.5 million rupees (approximately 10.72 million USD) through its Demat 2 pilot program by issuing tokenized corporate bonds. This pilot utilizes distributed ledger technology to issue, hold, and settle corporate bonds.REC Ltd. was the first to issue on September 7, raising 50 million rupees (approximately 5.23 million USD) from 18 investors; L&T Ltd. raised a similar amount from 4 investors on September 9, and IIFL raised 25 million rupees (approximately 2.6 million USD) from 1 investor on the same day. SEBI stated that the pilot infrastructure records corporate bonds in the form of native digital tokens on a distributed ledger owned by the depository and achieves atomic settlement of bonds and funds through a unified market interface connected to the Reserve Bank of India’s wholesale central bank digital currency.This mechanism can reduce settlement risks arising from the separation of securities and funds transfer, allowing issuers to receive funds on the same day as the bidding, whereas the existing process typically takes two to three days. The regulator noted that the information of bondholders on the shared ledger is instantly visible to all authorized entities, and at maturity, e₹ payments will go directly into the bondholders' central bank digital currency wallets. SEBI clarified that this pilot does not create a new category of corporate bonds; tokenized bonds retain the same ISIN, issuer obligations, coupon, maturity, covenants, ratings, and investor rights as traditional paperless bonds. The pilot will be implemented in three phases, with the first phase covering institutional issuance, while secondary trading and retail access will be conducted in subsequent phases within SEBI's regulatory sandbox.