Swiss National Bank CBDC Pilot Program

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) recently publicly expressed its intention to expand its pilot program for wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC), an initiative aimed at attracting more banks to join and increase transaction volume. The program, called "Project Helvetia", has gone through several stages since its launch in October 2019 and is scheduled to continue for at least the next two years.

Pilot Program Process

Phase 1: Mainly test the instant clearing and settlement system between SIX Bank and SDX (SIX Digital Exchange). Phase 2: Increase the participation of commercial banks, integrate wholesale CBDC into the core banking system, and conduct end-to-end transactions. Participants include financial giants such as Citi and Goldman Sachs. Phase 3: Continue to expand the scope of the pilot, including six financial institutions such as UBS and Commerzbank. At present, the relevant banks have issued six digital bonds through SDX, and the total value of settlement transactions has reached 750 million Swiss francs (about 830 million US dollars).

The Swiss National Bank's attitude

Thomas Jordan, president of the Swiss National Bank, has stated on multiple occasions that the CBDC pilot program is not just an experiment, but will be real currency equivalent to bank reserves, with the goal of testing transactions with market participants. He also emphasized that the Swiss National Bank plays a "global leading role" in the deployment of wholesale CBDC, and hopes that over time, more financial institutions will participate and use wholesale CBDC for a wider range of financial transactions.

The Swiss National Bank's attitude towards retail CBDC

Unlike wholesale CBDC, the Swiss National Bank is taking a wait-and-see attitude towards retail CBDC. Jordan said that because retail CBDC is more difficult to control in use, he is worried that this may bring potential risks to the financial system, so he is still cautious. #美国6月非农数据高于预期 #德国政府转移比特币 #币安合约锦标赛