Switzerland to launch CBDC pilot on SIX Digital Exchange
Switzerland’s central bank, the Swiss National Bank (SNB), has announced a pilot program for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in collaboration with six commercial banks. The pilot is set to run from December 2023 to June 2024. According to a press release on Thursday, Nov. 3, the SNB will launch the so-called Helvetia Phase III pilot on the local trading platform SIX Digital Exchange (SDX) with Banque Cantonale Vaudoise, Basler Kantonalbank, Commerzbank, Hypothekarbank Lenzburg, UBS and Zürcher Kantonalbank. The digital currency will represent the Swiss franc “available for the settlement of real bond transactions,” the document says. Per the press release, the pilot will run from December 2023 to June 2024. “With this pilot project, we are now, for the first time, making it possible to securely and efficiently settle transactions with tokenized assets on a regulated and productive DLT platform using real wholesale CBDC.” Thomas J. Jordan, ...