Swiss National Bank advances with Phase III of Helvetia CBDC pilot program

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) is progressing with its groundbreaking Helvetia Phase III pilot program, marking a significant shift from the testing to the actual implementation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC). This initiative, led by SNB Chairman Thomas Jordan and SIX Digital Exchange, will enable real bond transactions to be settled using the digital currency via a distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform.

From December 2023 to June 2024, six banks including Banque Cantonale Vaudoise, Basler Kantonalbank, Commerzbank (ETR:), Hypothekarbank Lenzburg, UBS, and Zürcher Kantonalbank will facilitate these bond transactions for issuers and investors. The bonds will be tokenized and settled against wholesale CBDC on a delivery-versus-payment basis via SDX, a regulated DLT-based infrastructure hosting the pilot.

This innovative project builds upon the findings of Project Helvetia by BIS Innovation Hub, SNB, and SIX. It aims to securely and efficiently settle transactions with tokenized assets using real wholesale CBDC on a regulated DLT platform. The SIC and SIX SIS infrastructures will be utilized for the tokenization of central bank money and integration with traditional bond settlement infrastructure respectively.

In addition to bond transactions, the pilot will also explore trading and settlement of repo transactions with wholesale CBDC initiated on the CO:RE trading platform. These transactions, collateralized by digital bonds eligible for SNB repo transactions, will be settled on SDX in wCBDC, managed by the Triparty Agent of SIX SIS.

Jos Dijsselhof, CEO of SIX, has hailed this pilot as a pioneering leap in tokenized central bank money operation.

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