SNB to test market participants trading on wholesale CBDC

Progress in CBDC testing

Swiss National Bank (SNB) Governor Thomas Jordan today announced the launch of a wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) as part of an experiment.

He said that this is not just an experiment, and that CBDC will be issued as real money equivalent to bank reserves. He said he would test real trades among market participants.

This issuance will be carried out on the country’s digital asset exchange “SIX Digital Exchange (SDX)”. Mr. Jordan announced this test at an event called “Point Zero Forum”, and SDX and overseas media reported the contents.

Exciting emerging insights from the ongoing panel discussion at the @pointzeroforum on #CBDC: Catalysts for Financial Innovation? Thomas Jordan, Chairman of the Governing Board at SNB, shed light on Project Helvetia III: “We will issue #wCBDC to test real transactions on #SDX… pic.twitter.com/xLrdiVy9gD

—SIX Digital Exchange (@SDX_global) June 26, 2023

According to SDX, the issuance will be for a limited period of time. It also says it will be tested as part of “Project Helvetia,” which SNB and others are jointly conducting. Jordan explained that the testing will begin “soon.”

connection: Swiss National Bank succeeds in demonstration experiment of wholesale CBDC payment, 5 commercial banks participate

A wholesale type is a CBDC used in transactions between financial institutions. CBDCs used by individuals and businesses are called retail type.

Jordan explained that he hasn’t ruled out retail CBDCs, but he’s thinking cautiously at this point.

CBDC, which is being developed and researched around the world, is also being tested in Japan. The Bank of Japan has been conducting a “pilot experiment” since April, stating that it will widely utilize the technology and knowledge of private companies.

connection: Pilot experiment by the Bank of Japan for the digital yen Proof of concept is also expected to link with distributed ledger technology

connection: What is Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) | Differences from Bitcoin and Main Advantages

Switzerland and cryptocurrencies

Switzerland has long been known as a leading country in crypto assets (virtual currencies) and blockchain technology.

In April of this year, digital asset bank Sygnum announced a partnership with Swiss state-owned financial institution PostFinance. PostFinance said it will offer customers digital asset banking services via Sygnum’s enterprise banking platform.

connection: Swiss state-owned company “PostFinance” partners with Signum to provide cryptocurrency services

Also last month, it was learned that the canton of Zug in the country raised the tax cap for bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH) to about 230 million yen (1.5 million Swiss francs). From 2021, the canton of Zug will start accepting tax payments in Bitcoin and Ethereum.

connection: Zug, Switzerland, raises the maximum amount of tax with Bitcoin to over 200 million yen

The post SNB to test market participants trading on wholesale CBDC appeared first on Our Bitcoin News.