Nations team up on blockchain for three big reasons: to make cross-border processes cheaper and faster, to verify people and products with portable proof, and to align rules so digital records move with legal certainty. Europe’s public-sector blockchain (EBSI, evolving into EUROPEUM), the W3C Verifiable Credentials 2.0 standard used with the new EU digital identity framework, the BIS-supported mBridge platform for multi-CBDC payments, and trade-law reforms like the UNCITRAL MLETR that enable electronic bills of lading are concrete examples of this partnership logic in action.
What makes governments partner on blockchain?
Cut cross-border friction at scale
Public services and markets get stuck on different databases, formats, and local rules. Partnerships build shared rails so data can be verified anywhere within seconds, not weeks. The EU’s EBSI network is designed exactly for that—every Member State plus Norway and Liechtenstein runs at least one node to deliver cross-border public services.
Trust without centralizing everything
Instead of one country hosting everyone’s data, partners exchange cryptographic proofs. W3C’s Verifiable Credentials 2.0 became a W3C Recommendation in 2025, giving governments and businesses a stable, interoperable way to issue and check credentials across borders.
Legal certainty for digital documents and money
Technology alone isn’t enough—laws must recognize digital originals. The UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (MLETR) does that for trade documents, while multi-CBDC platforms like mBridge experiment with instant cross-border settlement under a joint legal framework.
Case study 1: Europe’s public-sector blockchain
From EBSI to EUROPEUM
The European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI) is a pan-European network for cross-border public services. In 2024 the Commission created EUROPEUM as an “EDIC” to expand and deploy EBSI with Member States, focusing on Web3 innovation and interoperability for public services.
What runs on it
EBSI’s verifiable-credentials framework supports portable diplomas, professional credentials, and organizational attestations so a claim issued in one country can be checked instantly in another—using W3C VC standards and wallets. Node operators across Europe keep the network active.
Why it matters
EBSI aligns with the new EU digital identity framework (eIDAS 2.0): Member States must offer EU Digital Identity (EUDI) wallets that can hold verified attributes (e.g., diplomas, licenses) and work across the bloc—exactly the type of cross-border trust blockchain partnerships are built to enable.
Case study 2: Payments—multi-CBDC experiments
Project mBridge
Run by central banks including Hong Kong, China, Thailand and the UAE, mBridge reached an MVP stage in mid-2024, inviting more participants to test instant cross-border payments and settlement on shared DLT infrastructure. The platform includes a legal framework for joining institutions.
The bigger policy context
The G20’s cross-border payments roadmap pushes for faster, cheaper, more transparent payments. Multi-CBDC platforms are one path being tested alongside upgrades to existing rails. Partnerships help coordinate tech, regulation, and supervision across borders.
Case study 3: Digital trade documents
The legal unlock: MLETR and national reforms
MLETR gives legal effect to electronic transferable records (like bills of lading) so they aren’t denied validity just for being digital or crossing borders. Countries such as the UK implemented this via the Electronic Trade Documents Act 2023, turning paper-based “possession” into lawful digital control.
The networks: eBL and TradeTrust
Industry surveys show rising adoption of electronic bills of lading, while Singapore’s TradeTrust provides a standards-based framework and open-source tools for issuing and verifying digital trade docs across systems and jurisdictions. These efforts hinge on government-to-government and public-private alignment.
The standards backbone governments rely on
ISO/TC 307 for common language and architecture
ISO’s TC 307 develops global blockchain standards (vocabulary, reference architecture, governance, identity, smart contracts, custody security). Adopting common specs reduces integration costs and makes cross-border pilots interoperable from day one.
W3C VC 2.0 + eIDAS 2.0 for portable trust
Pairing W3C Verifiable Credentials 2.0 with the EU’s eIDAS 2.0/EUDI wallet rules gives a blueprint for cross-jurisdictional verification of people, organizations, and products—without centralizing personal data.
Benefits governments cite when they partner
Faster recognition of people and products
Portable credentials (diplomas, licenses, corporate data) can be verified near-instantly across borders, cutting fraud and admin overhead for universities, regulators, and employers.
Lower cost, higher certainty in trade
Electronic bills of lading and other MLETR-enabled records move through digital supply chains with legal force, reducing manual handling, errors, and disputes.
Better payments and supervision
Multi-CBDC pilots test atomic settlement and richer compliance data across currencies, complementing the G20 roadmap to improve speed, cost, access and transparency.
Real-world challenges to plan for
Governance and funding
Moving from pilot to production requires shared budgets, support capacity, and clear decision rights—EUROPEUM was created to put Member States in the driver’s seat for EBSI’s next phase.
Interoperability with legacy systems
Standards exist, but integration is hard. Public-sector toolkits and ISO/TC 307 work help, yet agencies still face data-model and workflow gaps when connecting old platforms to new trust layers.
Policy trade-offs
Some central banks and policymakers are weighing CBDC complexity versus upgrading existing rails; partnerships let them test options with guardrails before widescale deployment.
FAQs
Isn’t “blockchain for government” mostly hype?
There’s healthy skepticism, but governments are already deploying: EBSI/EUROPEUM for public-sector credentials, mBridge for multi-CBDC payments MVP, and MLETR-backed eBL rollouts for digital trade. The value is clearest where many jurisdictions must trust the same records.
Why not just use a centralized database?
When data must be verified across borders and institutions that don’t share a single operator, distributed trust and portable proofs reduce reconciliation and vendor lock-in—especially when aligned to legal frameworks like eIDAS 2.0 and MLETR.
Which standards should teams watch first?
W3C Verifiable Credentials 2.0 for data portability and ISO/TC 307 documents for architecture, identity, governance, and custody security—plus national implementations of MLETR for trade.
