Chainlink (LINK) announced on March 23 the launch of "Project Pangea," a collaborative initiative with over 50 banks from Europe and South Korea to develop a real-time international settlement model using stablecoins. The combined assets under management of participating banks exceed $10 trillion. The project aims to shorten foreign exchange settlement periods from the current standard of T+2 to T+0, where settlement occurs on the same day as the trade.
Project Participants and Goals
The project brings together three key entities: FairSquareLab, a South Korean digital asset infrastructure firm; UniKA, a consortium of South Korean banks; and Qivalis, a euro stablecoin consortium led by 37 European banks. Qivalis, which recently added 25 new member banks, plans to launch its euro stablecoin in the second half of 2026. Chainlink highlighted that the existing FX market faces major challenges from fragmented market structures and the widespread T+2 settlement cycle, which the project seeks to overcome.
Technical Solution
The proposed solution will be built on several components: euro and South Korean won stablecoins, Chainlink's Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP), the FairSquareLab Pangea L1 network (a payment-focused blockchain), and existing Swift infrastructure. Chainlink will enable financial institutions to connect any public or private blockchain using their existing systems and messaging standards. The goal is to achieve atomic settlement, where both legs of a trade settle simultaneously.
Industry Perspectives
Jean-Luc Gustave, Head of APAC Partnerships at Qivalis, stated that Project Pangea positions Qivalis's upcoming euro stablecoin at the core of FX innovation, potentially establishing a new paradigm for international payments between Europe and South Korea. He noted that connecting regulated stablecoins for the euro and won via atomic settlement would move the discussion beyond theoretical use cases and demonstrate how next-generation infrastructure can optimize international trade corridors. The transition to a frictionless global model could significantly enhance capital efficiency by eliminating traditional settlement risks and reducing intraday liquidity costs, while opening a secure gateway for large institutional fund flows.
Timeline and Scope
According to CoinDesk, which cited an interview with a Chainlink representative, the project aims to begin transactions within a regulated framework over the next 12 months. Gustave's comments suggest the solution will be applied to trade between Europe and South Korea. The initiative reflects growing momentum in the stablecoin space, which recorded an estimated $46 trillion in transaction volume, as traditional finance explores blockchain-based solutions for cross-border payments.