Swiss Bank Plans to Launch a Wholesale CBDC Pilot Project
Thomas Jordan, Chairman of the Swiss National Bank (SNB), has stated that the SNB “soon” would be issuing a wholesale national digital currency as part of a limited-time pilot project on the SDX Exchange.
According to him, these funds would be the same as those held in reserves by banks, and their purpose would be to test CBDC transactions with market participants.
Despite this move, however, Jordan was careful to recognize the potential risks a retail CBDC could have on the financial system, as well as the difficulty in regulating their use.
For this reason, the SNB has yet to exclude the possibility of never issuing a digital franc to the public.
Andrea Mehler, a member of the SNB’s governing board, likewise questioned the decreasing use of cash in Switzerland, arguing that households should still be able to use it as a form of accessible storage.
The bank had previously announced its technical ability for launching CBDC in November 2021, yet earlier representatives had stated that a digital franc was not necessary.
