Swiss National Bank Launches Wholesale CBDC in Partnership With Six Commercial Banks
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) is ramping up its efforts on the issuance of a wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC).
According to a press release, the Swiss central bank is collaborating with six commercial banks and the SIX Digital Exchange (SDX) to fast-track the implementation of the CBDC in the European nation.
Dubbed the Swiss Franc wCBDC, this digital currency is part of the Swiss government’s growing efforts to launch a tokenized central bank money for use by all financial institutions within its territory.
The participating commercial banks include Banque Cantonale Vaudoise, Basler Kantonalbank, Commerzbank, Hypothekarbank, Lenzburg, UBS, and Zürcher Kantonalbank.
These commercial banks will utilize the infrastructure of the SDX and Swiss Interbank Clearing (SIC) platforms.
The wholesale CBDC is part of its Helvetia Phase III, which is the Swiss’ third pilot program.
Providing more details on what this third installment will aim to achieve, the central bank stated that “it aims to test, in a live environment, the settlement of primary and secondary market transactions using the wholesale CBDC.”
In addition, participating banks will be able to issue digital Swiss Franc bonds, enabling them to settle digital transactions on a delivery-versus-payment basis.
Helvetia Phase III will be deployed in the settlement of repository (repo) transactions, which are deployed on the CO:RE trading platform of the SDX’s SIX Repo.
Providing a timeframe for the full deployment of its third tranche of the CBDC pilot program, the bank stated that it would run between December 2023 and June 2024.
Switzerland is one of the many governments worldwide delving into the potential of tokenized fiat currencies operating on a distributed
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