The Swiss National Bank (SNB) and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) plan to start testing the state digital currency by the end of this year.
This was announced by Benoît Cœuré, Chairman of the BIS Innovation Center, at a conference in Shanghai. He said the Proof-of-Concept (PoC) will allow researchers to experiment with government digital currency, use it for retail payments, as well as study interactions with existing payment systems and monitor compliance with regulatory requirements.
BIS also plans to involve other central banks in the initiative, including the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Central Bank of Thailand. Köre believes that such cooperation will allow more efficient testing of cross-border payments using government cryptocurrencies.
Last year SNB and BIS teamed up to explore trends in the digitalization of the financial sector and expand their knowledge of financial markets. Departments believe that digital currencies from central banks can simplify the settlement of tokenized assets between financial institutions. However, such digital currencies should “peacefully coexist” with fiat currencies and not endanger the financial stability of states.
Recall that earlier BIS announced its intention to create four additional branches of the Innovation Center within two years to conduct research on digital currencies and financial technologies, as well as to study issues related to cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and digital payments. In addition, this month, BIS, along with several central banks, presented a report outlining the basic principles for issuing government cryptocurrencies.
