Swiss National Bank open to expanding digital currency project
FILE PHOTO: A view of the headquarters of the Swiss National Bank (SNB), before a press conference in Zurich, Switzerland, March 21, 2024. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
ZURICH : The Swiss National Bank is open to expanding its pilot project with wholesale central bank digital currencies, governing board member Antoine Martin said on Wednesday.
"We would like to see a pilot which develops, with more banks joining and a higher volume of transactions," Martin told the Point Zero Forum event in Zurich.
The SNB will continue providing a wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) for at least two more years, it said last month, extending a pilot called Project Helvetia III which began last year.
Six banks, including UBS and Commerzbank, are already taking part in the project which has seen six digital bond issuances for a total value of 750 million Swiss francs ($830.38 million).
($1 = 0.9032 Swiss francs)
