Tokenization | Jun 28, 2024

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Pilot Program with Swiss Digital Franc Sees Major Success

The Swiss National Bank’s (SNB), in conjunction with SIX Digital Exchange (SDX) and numerous commercial banks, launched a pilot project from December 2023 to June 2024 for settling digital bond transactions with a wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency (wCBDC) that has been a huge success, indicating tremendous possibilities for the future of digital financial infrastructure.  The pilot sought to investigate the viability and benefits of digital currency in financial markets.

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Key Achievements

• The pilot has been extended for at least two years due to its performance, suggesting high confidence in its benefits and possibilities for the future.
• The World Bank successfully issued a 200 million CHF digital bond as part of the pilot, which is the first from an international issuer to be settled utilizing the wCBDC, a significant milestone.
• The pilot featured large Swiss banks such as UBS, Commerzbank, and Zürcher Kantonalbank, resulting in the issuance of over 750 million CHF in digital bonds via SDX.
• The pilot successfully connected traditional financial systems with blockchain technology, enabling seamless transactions across several central securities depositories (CSDs) including Clearstream and Euroclear.

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Switzerland has long been considered as a global leader in financial innovation, and the success of the SNB’s digital franc trial doubles down on this position. The Swiss approach to integrating blockchain technology with existing finance systems exemplifies a realistic and innovative technique. The Swiss financial sector has a strong regulatory framework, a healthy financial ecosystem, and an innovative culture, making it an ideal place to launch such initiatives.

Comparison with Other Financial Centers

Switzerland’s progress with financial asset tokenization can be contrasted with other major financial centres, each investigating their own approaches toward incorporating digital currencies and blockchain technology.

• The United States has seen initiatives such as JPMorgan’s JPM Coin, which intends to facilitate fast payments between institutional clients via blockchain. However, regulatory ambiguity remains a substantial barrier to the widespread deployment of such technology.
• The European Union has taken a proactive approach, which includes the groundbreaking Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) law to establish a clear regulatory framework for digital assets. The European Investment Bank’s digital bond issuance on Ethereum demonstrates the region’s commitment to digital finance.

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• The People’s Bank of China is leading the Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP) initiative, which is one of the most sophisticated in the world. The DCEP focuses on retail and wholesale applications, establishing China as a market leader in government-backed digital currencies. China’s quick growth in digital finance, including retail and wholesale applications, is seen in its widespread adoption and thorough testing phases, highlighting the country’s leadership in digital currency innovation.

Conclusion

The success of this pilot propels Switzerland to the forefront of digital financial innovation. With the pilot extended and more institutions likely to participate, the breadth of transactions will expand, possibly altering the global financial system through increased efficiency, security, and transparency.

The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, artificial intelligence, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada’s Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org

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• Source: https://ncfacanada.org/swiss-digital-franc-tokenized-bond-pilot-deemed-a-success/