The head of the Swiss National Bank (SNB) has announced that the bank will launch a pilot project for a wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC), according to a report. Reuters quoted Bank President Thomas Jordan said the project would start “soon”.
Jordan was quoted as saying at the Point Zero Forum in Zurich on June 26 that wCBDC will be issued on the Swiss SIX digital exchange and run for a limited time. The SIX Group also operates the largest stock exchange in Switzerland. According to the report, Jordan said:
“This is not just an experiment, it will be a real money equivalent of bank reserves and the aim is to test real transactions with market participants.”
Thomas Moser, a member of the board of directors of the Swiss Central Bank, told Cointelegraph last year that CBDCs could work well with decentralized finance. The SNB integrated wCBDC into the back-office systems of five banks early last year as part of Project Helvetia, which had previously completed a wCBDC proof-of-concept.
This was pivotal from a position expressed the previous year by SNB chief economist Carlos Lenz, who said that blockchain was not a suitable platform for CBDCs, and the country did not intend to issue one.
Related: The Bank for International Settlements joins the central banks of France and Switzerland in a cross-border CBDC project
“We’re a little bit cautious at the moment,” Thomas said of retail CBDCs, but he didn’t rule out a rollout.
Swiss National Bank (SNB) Launches Pilot Program for Digital Currency (CBDC) – Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Swiss National Bank https://t.co/Kc7DKIYuSA via Reuters pic.twitter.com/HG4ZSFGkW9
– Dan Popescu (PopescuCo) June 26, 2023
Speaking at a different event from Jordan at this year’s Point Zero Forum, SNB board member Andrea Maeschler said the central bank does not expect cash to be replaced in the country. Micheler said last year that SNB officials “believe the risks outweigh the benefits” with regard to retail CBDCs.
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