A method of providing secure ledger distribution for interbank settlement includes establishing a private sidechain among a centralized computer system of a central bank and computer systems of at least a sender bank and a receiver bank, each of which have an account with the central bank. The centralized computer system receives a transaction from the computer system of the sender bank as a payment request. The centralized computer system determines whether the transaction is valid. Consensus is reached within the private sidechain. The centralized computer system forwards the transaction to the computer system of the receiver bank along with a finality proof. The accounts of the sender bank and the receiver bank are updated and the transaction is added to a private ledger accessible only within the private sidechain.