One of the claims of Bitcoin (Nakamoto, 2008) is that settlement takes place without a central authority. The authors, Ruth Wandhöfer and Ron Berndsen, investigate this claim by comparing Bitcoin’s proof-of-work consensus algorithm to the legal concept of settlement finality used in financial market infrastructures worldwide.

This paper explores whether and how technological innovation, in conjunction with policy measures, can improve the process of correspondent banking cross-border payments.