Digital Currency Revolution Series: SNB and BIS enter into a pact to explore possibilities and prospects of digital currencies

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) has made an announcement that it has signed an operational pact with the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) to delve into digital currencies in the BIS Innovation Hub Centre established in Switzerland.

The BIS intends to establish Innovation Hub Centres in Hong Kong, Singapore also, and Switzerland for central bank technology projects.

While the Swiss Centre will initially conduct research on two projects emphasizes on the central bank digital currency (CBDC) and monitoring markets in real-time.

The first of these will study and investigate the integration of digital central bank money into a distributed ledger technology infrastructure. This new form of CBDC (digital central bank money) would be aimed at facilitating the settlement of tokenised assets between financial institutions. Tokens are digital assets that can be transferred from one party to another. The project will be carried out as part of a collaboration between the SNB and the SIX Group in the form of a proof of concept. 

The second project will address the rise in requirements placed on central banks to be able to effectively track and monitor fast-paced electronic markets. These requirements are arising in particular from the greater automation and fragmentation of the financial markets, but also from the increased use of new technologies. 

Thomas J. Jordan, Chairman of the Governing Board of the SNB, said “The SNB has for some time been closely following the digitalisation of the financial sector and technological innovations in the areas covered by its mandate. Through the cooperation at the BIS Innovation Hub Centre in Switzerland, the SNB will be able to further expand its expertise in the area of financial markets and their infrastructures. We look forward to bolstering our collaboration with the BIS and other central banks in this space.”