The Swiss National Bank (SNB) was the first to deploy a wholesale CBDC (wCBDC) in a production environment on the SIX Digital Exchange (SDX) platform. After processing the first settlement for a tokenized transaction in December 2023, the central bank extended the pilot by two years in June 2024. Now the SNB is adding another year, so it will run to mid-2027.
We recently reported that BX Digital, a Swiss digital exchange subsidiary of the Boerse Stuttgart, is planning to commence operations shortly. It intends to use a direct link to the Swiss National Bank’s SIC payment system for settlement. The SNB is therefore enabling production environment access for BX Digital. This is not dissimilar to the Bundesbank’s trigger solution, which proved popular in recent ECB wholesale DLT settlement trials.
While the Swiss National Bank already tested both paths as part of the first phase of Project Helvetia, it wants to see whether there are different conclusions in a production environment. The wCBDC remains a pilot under Project Helvetia III. The SNB has not committed to a full launch.
Article continues …
Want the full story? Pro subscribers get complete articles, exclusive industry analysis, and early access to legislative updates that keep you ahead of the competition. Join the professionals who are choosing deeper insights over surface level news.
