Quick answer: Project Pax is a cross-border stablecoin settlement platform launched by Japan’s Progmat and Datachain in September 2024. Its distinctive idea is to reuse SWIFT’s existing API framework so a bank can instruct settlement on blockchain networks using stablecoins, without ripping out the systems and workflows it already runs.
Updated 07/17/2026. By Jake Claver. Educational content, not investment advice.
Most “stablecoins for payments” pitches ask banks to adopt new wallets and new rails. Project Pax takes the opposite path. It tries to slot stablecoin settlement behind the interfaces banks already use, so the change happens in the plumbing rather than at the teller window. That design choice is the whole story here.
The facts below come from the Progmat and Datachain releases that announced the project and its patent filing, linked throughout.
What Project Pax is
Progmat, Inc. and Datachain, Inc. launched Project Pax from Tokyo on September 5, 2024, describing it as a platform to make international transfers faster and cheaper using stablecoins while staying compatible with existing business processes (Progmat and Datachain launch Project Pax). Progmat is the stablecoin and tokenization infrastructure firm; Datachain builds cross-chain interoperability technology.
Progmat’s own explainer frames the platform as a hybrid: a familiar banking interface, SWIFT API connectivity, and stablecoins as the settlement asset, so institutions can use existing bank relationships instead of self-managed wallets (Progmat Project Pax explainer).
How it uses SWIFT’s API framework
This is the mechanic that sets Pax apart. The announcement states the platform “will utilize Swift’s existing API framework for banks to instruct Progmat to settle on blockchain networks.” In other words, a bank sends an instruction through the SWIFT interface it already operates, and Progmat carries out the actual settlement on-chain with a stablecoin.
Datachain frames the payoff as avoiding “operational redundancy with fiat currency transfers” and minimizing investment costs. Instead of asking banks to bolt on parallel crypto operations, Pax aims to hide the blockchain step behind standard messaging.
The technology stack underneath
Under the interface, Pax relies on cross-chain infrastructure. According to the launch announcement, TOKI provides cross-chain connectivity and liquidity, and the platform uses the IBC protocol together with Datachain’s LCP middleware to move value between chains. Settlement is done with compliant stablecoins issued through Progmat’s infrastructure, which is what keeps the design inside a regulated framework rather than an open-ended token model.
The patent and what it covers
Progmat and Datachain jointly filed a patent for the cross-border stablecoin transfer platform, with the domestic Japanese application announced around October 22, 2024, and plans to pursue international applications in key markets (Datachain patent-filing release). The release describes a system enabling “stablecoin transfers through banks by utilizing Swift’s existing API framework,” and notes attention to AML/CFT compliance, regulatory requirements, operational structures, and corporate wallet usage. The patent signals that the SWIFT-instructs-settlement approach is the intended core intellectual property, not an afterthought.
The problem it targets
Pax is aimed at the well-known pain points in cross-border payments. Datachain frames the platform against the G20’s priorities of cost, speed, access, and transparency, and cites a cross-border transfer market it sizes in the hundreds of trillions of dollars (the launch materials reference roughly $182 trillion, and the patent release cites $190 trillion in 2023). Those figures are the firm’s framing of the opportunity, not a settled market statistic, and worth reading in the sources directly.
The deeper problem is correspondent banking: a cross-border payment can pass through several intermediary banks, each adding delay and cost. Pax’s argument is that a direct on-chain settlement leg, triggered through existing bank messaging, can shorten that chain.
Where it fits in the global cross-border push
Speeding up cross-border payments is a coordinated international goal. The Financial Stability Board runs a G20 cross-border payments roadmap with targets for cost, speed, access, and transparency. The Bank for International Settlements pursues related infrastructure work, including Project Nexus to interlink national instant-payment systems, and broader CPMI analysis of enhancing cross-border payments. Coverage from Ledger Insights places Pax in the wider move by Japanese banks toward stablecoin-based cross-border settlement. For the U.S. policy lens on what regulated stablecoins are meant to do, the President’s Working Group stablecoin report is the standard reference.
The Japan-South Korea proof of concept
Project Pax moved from concept to test across 2025. In February 2025, Progmat and Datachain signed a memorandum of understanding with South Korean partners, including Fair Square Lab and Korea Digital Asset Custody, to run a proof of concept connecting stablecoin remittance infrastructure between Japan and South Korea.
That test then produced a concrete result. As reported by the Korea Herald, K bank said in mid-September 2025 that it had completed the first phase of verification. The process converted South Korean won into a stablecoin, moved it over blockchain, and reconverted it into Japanese yen, demonstrating that the flow could run faster and cheaper than traditional cross-border transfers and integrate with existing bank systems. Korean participants included K bank, Shinhan Bank, and Nonghyup Bank; the Japanese side included Shoko Chukin Bank, Progmat, and Datachain. The reported next phase targets real-time interoperability with Swift and payment-versus-payment settlement.
Why Japan is a sensible place for this
Japan is one of the few major economies with a working legal framework for regulated stablecoins, issued through banks and trust structures under its payment-services regime. That regulatory clarity is why a bank-grade project like this can run with named institutions rather than staying in a sandbox. Progmat itself grew out of Japan’s megabank ecosystem, which is part of why it can convene banks on both sides of a corridor.
Why this matters
The design bet in Project Pax is that adoption follows the path of least disruption. If banks can settle cross-border transfers with stablecoins by sending an instruction through infrastructure they already trust, the barrier to trying it drops sharply. Pax began pilot testing with financial institutions and targeted commercialization in 2025, so the honest posture is to watch which banks put real volume through it, not to assume the model is proven at scale.
Common questions
What is Project Pax?
Project Pax is a cross-border stablecoin transfer platform launched by Progmat and Datachain in September 2024. It lets banks instruct settlement on blockchain networks using stablecoins through SWIFT’s existing API framework.
How does Project Pax use SWIFT?
The platform reuses SWIFT’s existing API framework so a bank sends a standard instruction and Progmat carries out the on-chain settlement with a stablecoin, avoiding a separate parallel crypto operation.
Who is behind Project Pax?
Progmat, Inc., which provides stablecoin and tokenization infrastructure, and Datachain, Inc., which builds cross-chain interoperability technology, with TOKI providing cross-chain connectivity and liquidity in the launch design.
Did Progmat and Datachain patent the platform?
Yes. They jointly filed a patent for the cross-border stablecoin transfer platform, announced around October 2024, and said they plan to pursue international applications in key markets.
Is Project Pax the same as the three-bank stablecoin project?
No. Pax is the Progmat and Datachain settlement platform that connects banks to on-chain settlement via SWIFT’s API. Japan’s megabanks also have a separate jointly issued stablecoin effort, and while both involve Progmat infrastructure, they are distinct initiatives.
This content is educational only. It is not tax, legal, or investment advice. Check primary sources and speak with a qualified professional before making financial decisions.
