The Central Bank of Switzerland and BIS will start testing the state cryptocurrency by the end of the year

National Bank of Switzerland (SNB) and bank of international settlements (TO) plan to start testing the state digital currency until the end of this year.

This was announced by the chairman of the Bis Innovation Center Benois Kero (Benoît Cœuré) At a conference in Shanghai. He said, that the proof of the concept (Proof-of-Concept, PoC) will allow researchers to experiment with state digital currency, use it for retail payments, As well as study interaction with existing payment systems and monitor compliance with regulatory requirements.

BIS also plans to connect other central banks to this initiative, Including the management of monetary circulation of Hong Kong (Hkma) and the central bank of Thailand. Coer believes, that such cooperation will allow more efficiently testing cross -border payments using state cryptocurrencies.

Last year, SNB and BIS were united to study the trends of digitizing the financial sector and expand their knowledge in the field of financial markets. Department is considered, that digital currencies from central banks can simplify calculations on tokenized assets between financial institutions. However, such digital currencies should “get along peacefully” with fiat currencies and not jeopardize the financial stability of states.

Recall, that BIS previously announced the intention to create four additional branches of the Innovation Center for two years, to conduct research of digital currencies and financial technologies, and also study questions, associated with cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and digital payments. Besides, This month, Bis, along with several central banks, presented a report, which sets out the basic principles of the release of state cryptocurrencies.

Source