Swiss City of Lugano Launches Blockchain Bond with Wholesale CBDC Settlement
In Switzerland, the city of Lugano has announced the issuance of its second blockchain bond, following its initial blockchain bond launch a year prior. This recent issuance, valued at CHF 100 million, integrates with the Swiss National Bank’s (SNB) Project Helvetia, marking a significant step by settling transactions in wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC). […]
Project Promissa: A New Collaboration Between World Bank, Swiss National Bank and the BIS Innovation Hub to Test Financial Instrument Tokenization
Project Promissa, a new collaboration announced between the BIS Innovation Hub Swiss Centre, the Swiss National Bank, and the World Bank, is spearheading an experiment to revolutionise the way financial instruments, particularly promissory notes, are managed. These notes, traditionally paper-based, are crucial in funding international financial institutions, including multilateral development banks. As part of a […]
BCBS Proposes New Capital Requirement Rules for Banks Dealing with Digital Assets
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) recently launched a consultation in an effort to update the rules regarding bank capital requirements as they pertain to crypto-assets. This move represents a substantial step in the evolving landscape of cryptocurrency regulation, particularly focusing on how banks interact with digital assets. Central to the proposed changes is […]
Project Helvetia Phase III: Basel-City and Zurich Spearhead wCBDC Bond Issuances on DLT Platform
Earlier this month, Cantons of Basel-City and Zurich completed the issuance of digital bonds utilising a Swiss Franc (CHF) wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC), provided by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) through the SIX Digital Exchange (SDX). This achievement forms a crucial part of Project Helvetia Phase III, unveiled by the SNB on November […]
Swiss Central and Commercial Banks Collaborate with SIX Swiss Exchange to Launch Wholesale CBDC Pilot
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) has embarked on a collaborative venture with six commercial banks and the SIX Swiss Exchange to explore the use of wholesale central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), launching a project referred to as the Swiss franc wCBDC. This initiative, known as Helvetia Phase III, is set to evaluate the practicality of […]
Project Mariana: Final Report Confirms Successful Cross-Border Trading Of Wholesale Central Bank Digital Currencies (wCBDC)
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in collaboration with the central banks of France, Singapore, and Switzerland has successfully trialed cross-border transactions using wholesale central bank digital currencies (wCBDC). This was revealed in a report released on Thursday. You can download it here. Under the banner of Project Mariana, a prototype was developed using simulated […]
Swiss National Bank Set to Launch Digital Interbank Money Pilot by end of year, Says Thomas Moser in Interview
Switzerland’s central bank, the Swiss National Bank (SNB), is actively incorporating decentralised finance technology into traditional finance and considering the issuance of digital money for broader circulation, according to Thomas Moser, an Alternate Governing Member of the SNB. In an interview with finews.tv, Moser revealed that the SNB plans to introduce digital interbank money as […]
SNB to launch digital currency pilot
Source: Reuters The Swiss National Bank (SNB) is to issue a wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) on Switzerland’s SIX digital exchange as part of a pilot, the central bank’s chairman said at a conference in Zurich on Monday. “This is not just an experiment, it will be real money equivalent to bank reserves and […]
CBDCs on the horizon: The current state of CBDC initiatives around the world
Source: Cointelegraph Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) have long been a topic of contested discussion, having often been met with a predominantly negative response in the crypto community. However, despite the skepticism, CBDCs undeniably serve as a significant use case for blockchain technology. BDCs distributed through blockchain technology can provide cheaper, faster and possibly more […]
Switzerland planning stablecoin and live wholesale CBDC pilots
Source: Ledger Insights Last week the Swiss National Bank (SNB) outlined its Swiss payments vision. The central bank has already conducted various wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) tests. Now it plans to issue a real wholesale CBDC on the SIX Digital Exchange (SDX) for a limited time. It is also exploring a private token […]