Report: Swiss National Bank Starts A Wholesale CBDC Pilot Program

According to reports, a new “wholesale” central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot program is being launched by the Swiss National Bank (SNB).

According to a Reuters story, SNB Chairman Thomas Jordan stated the bank intends to launch the pilot on Switzerland’s SIX digital exchange soon while addressing at a finance conference in Zurich on Monday.

“This is not just an experiment, it will be real money equivalent to bank reserves and the objective is to test real transactions with market participants.”

According to reports, the scheme will only use wholesale CBDCs, which are only permitted in significant transactions between financial institutions.

Regarding retail CBDCs, which are those that would be available to the general public, Jordan said he still has some reservations.

The chairman said he is concerned about how they might affect the banking system.

“We do not exclude that we will never introduce retail [CBDCs] but nevertheless we are a little bit prudent at the moment.”

According to Reuters, Andréa M. Maechler, a departing member of the SNB’s governing board, stated in a different panel that cash will continue to be a crucial component of the Swiss financial system.

“It is the one way that retail households can hold central bank money. That feature needs to be maintained irrespective of the technology.”