Work on CBDCs has been accelerated by central banks around the world. One of the countries working on this issue was Switzerland.
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) announced today that it has successfully completed tests for the use of digital central bank money.
SNB said in a statement that the CBDC test studies were carried out with the participation of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the country’s stock exchange SIX, and five commercial banks.
In addition to UBS and Credit Suisse, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Hypothekarbank Lenzburg also participated in the CBDC usage trials under the name of Poject Helvetia (Swiss Project).
Benoît Cœuré, Head of Innovation at BIS, said in a statement:
“We have shown that innovation can be leveraged to preserve the best elements of the current financial system, including the placement in central bank money, and potentially unlock new benefits.”
SNB stated that the CBDC usage experiment in Switzerland showed that it is possible to make instant payments between 100,000 and 5 million Swiss Francs, eliminating counterparty risk.
The SNB also added that Project Helvetia is exploratory and should not be interpreted as an indication that SNB will issue CBDC.