LayerZero Labs, an interoperability protocol connecting over 170 blockchains, and Keeta, a regulated payments and settlement platform, have announced a partnership to introduce tokenized commercial bank deposits on the Ethereum, Solana, Base, and Keeta networks. The partnership aims to provide institutions with the ability to seamlessly transfer regulated bank deposits across multiple public blockchains using LayerZero’s interoperability technology.
Tokenized bank deposits deployed with multi-currency support
Financial institutions will be able to issue and transfer commercial bank deposits to multiple blockchain networks through payment rail and banking network provider Bivo. Initially, these tokenized assets will be backed by the US dollar, with eight additional currencies expected to be supported by the end of the month, including the euro, Japanese yen, renminbi, pound sterling, Canadian dollar, Mexican peso, Australian dollar, and Hong Kong dollar. Unlike traditional reserve-backed stablecoins, each token represents money held directly as commercial bank deposits through Bivo, connecting regulated finance to decentralized infrastructure.
Mini Dictionary: Bivo, a payments platform and partner bank network, bridges commercial bank deposits to blockchain tokens for payments and treasury solutions.
The platform is designed to allow institutions to make payments and manage their financial operations across the network without managing separate token versions or maintaining siled balances. Using LayerZero’s Omnichain Fungible Token (OFT) standard, tokens sent from one blockchain are burned and new tokens minted on the destination chain, ensuring consistency of supply and eliminating the need for wrapped assets or external liquidity pools.
LayerZero says the platform’s OFT framework allows companies to directly track aggregate supply at the contract level across blockchains, ensuring that assets are never duplicated and reducing operational complexity.
Publisher management and security are central
Keeta allows issuing institutions to set key operating rules for their tokens, including compliance checks, validation settings, transfer limits, and other legal safeguards. Given the strict legal and operational responsibilities, such functionality is considered essential for commercial bank funds. LayerZero’s infrastructure manages cross-chain payments, but issuers retain decision-making authority over how their tokens are issued and used.
Keeta said a recent public stress test conducted with the help of Google’s Spanner engineering team reached 11.2 million transactions per second on the dedicated blockchain network. Although this test demonstrated the technical capabilities of the system, it did not directly address its adoption by banks and financial institutions.
Mini Dictionary: Keeta is a payments and settlement network for institutions looking to bridge regulated banking infrastructure and public blockchain environments.
Bivo’s involvement enables assets held in regulated financial channels to be represented directly on-chain, providing a banking foundation rather than relying on crypto-native reserves. This arrangement gives participating institutions control throughout the transfer process and potentially addresses concerns about liquidity fragmentation and mismatched versions of tokenized assets.
Despite the technological advances, the companies have not disclosed expected trading volumes, specific banks participating or institutional partners. Future adoption will depend on market demand and how security settings are configured.
Security concerns and institutional implementation remain unresolved
Questions about the implementation remain, as neither LayerZero nor Keeta have disclosed the names of banks or provided estimates of usage or transaction volumes. Institutional willingness is expected to be influenced by both the regulatory framework and infrastructure risk management settings.
Extra attention has been paid to security following recent incidents such as the KelpDAO exploit on April 18th, which resulted in attackers exfiltrating 116,500 rsETH worth $292 million. This breach exposed weaknesses in the Single Validated Protocol configuration, prompting LayerZero to discontinue support for the vulnerable configuration and raise default security standards for future deployments. The success of Keeta’s rollout will depend on how clients adapt to these new default controls.
