The Swiss National Bank and the Bank for International Settlements reach agreement on the development of "Central Bank Digital Currency"

The idea of national digital currencies has taken root in the upper echelons of various governments, with countries launching related pilot projects one after another. The Swiss National Bank, for example, is partnering with the country's sixth stock exchange to conduct in-depth research on how to use Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) for settlement.

Swiss National Bank (SNB) and Bank for International Settlements (BIS) have officially signed an operational agreement recently to establish the BIS Innovation Hub in Switzerland. According to reports, the Swiss center will focus on integrating digital currencies and distributed ledger technology infrastructure built by the Swiss central bank. The statement noted:

This new form of digital central bank currency will facilitate tokenized asset settlements among international financial institutions.

The digital currency will run on a Proof of Concept (PoC) basis and will be trialed in collaboration with the Swiss central bank and financial services provider SIX Group, with hub centers planned to be established in Switzerland, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and Singapore.

Swiss National Bank President Thomas J. Jordan stated:

The Swiss National Bank has long been closely monitoring digitization and technological innovation in the financial sector. Through collaboration with the Bank for International Settlements, the Swiss National Bank will be able to further expand its expertise in the financial markets and their infrastructure. We look forward to strengthening cooperation in this field with the Bank for International Settlements and other central banks.

It is understood that the proposal was approved on June 30 this year. Bank for International Settlements General Manager Agustin Carstens expressed gratitude for the collaboration and claimed:

Establishing the new hub will further enhance the ecosystem of central banks.

In fact, Bank for International Settlements General Manager Agustin Carstens had previously criticized Bitcoin as a "Ponzi scheme" and even issued warnings to all central banks to avoid developing digital currencies.

However, Carstens' perspective has notably shifted this year. He even acknowledged that central banks around the world are likely to issue national digital currencies sooner or later.

Overall, the digitization of currencies has become a global trend. As reported by ABM, U.S. lawmakers have also sent an open letter to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, urging the Fed to develop a national digital currency, believing that the demand for a digital dollar is "inevitable."

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