BIS Innovation Hub publishes second-phase report on Project Aurum, exploring privacy-enhancing technologies for digital cash

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【Bank for International Settlements publishes report on second phase of digital cash project Aurum, exploring privacy-enhancing technologies】

The BIS Innovation Hub October 13, 2026 published the second-phase report of Project Aurum, focusing on exploring privacy-enhancing technologies suitable for digital cash. This phase implemented a privacy-preserving digital cash prototype on the existing Aurum codebase, helping policymakers understand how such technologies can mitigate the tension between privacy and compliance in digital cash. The prototype adopts the principles of privacy by design and privacy by default, demonstrating approaches between complete anonymity and fully transparent transactions, and implements customizable features to meet business needs related to compliance and operations. The project shows that privacy can be embedded in digital cash design through technology, rather than relying solely on institutional safeguards, thereby reducing unnecessary exposure of personal and transaction data while maintaining compliance and system integrity. Privacy-preserving designs can help central banks and policymakers understand the relevant considerations and trade-offs. The prototype’s features demonstrate policy flexibility among privacy, transparency, compliance and other attributes, which can be calibrated to different policy choices and risk appetites. Beyond digital cash, central banks can further study privacy-enhancing technologies in a wider range of use cases, and the report identifies several lessons from experience.

Key points

The BIS Innovation Hub October 13, 2026 published the second-phase report of Project Aurum.
The report focuses on exploring privacy-enhancing technologies suitable for digital cash.
The project implemented a privacy-preserving digital cash prototype on the existing Aurum codebase.
The prototype adopts the principles of privacy by design and privacy by default, and demonstrates approaches between complete anonymity and fully transparent transactions.
The prototype includes customizable features to meet business needs related to compliance and operations.
The report argues that privacy can be embedded in digital cash design through technology, thereby reducing unnecessary exposure of personal and transaction data while maintaining compliance and system integrity.

AI-assisted interpretation

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The report introduces a digital cash prototype that seeks to protect users’ privacy while retaining the transparency and compliance capabilities required by regulators, with relevant settings adjustable according to policy choices and risk appetites.

Why it matters to readers

It demonstrates a technical approach to embedding privacy protection directly into the design of digital cash systems, enabling central banks and policymakers to understand the relevant trade-offs.

Digital cash must protect individuals’ transaction information while potentially meeting compliance requirements. The project demonstrates how the two can be balanced through adjustable design.

Risks and unknowns

No official BIS report page or code link was provided.
The evidence does not indicate whether this prototype has been tested by central banks or policymakers in any country.
The evidence does not indicate whether the relevant design has entered a digital cash pilot or regulatory framework.

BIS Innovation Hub publishes second-phase report on Project Aurum, exploring privacy-enhancing technologies for digital cash

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