January 17, 2022

The central bank of Switzerland successfully used digital currency for transactions with five commercial banks. This is one of the most advanced central bank digital currency (CBDC) experiments in Europe.

The experiment, named Project Helvetia after the symbol of the nation, integrated CBDCs into payment systems and used them in simulated transactions involving UBS, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Hypothekarbank Lenzburg.

This demonstrated the ability to instantaneously make payments of 100,000 to 5 million Swiss francs ($109,469 to $5.47 million), and eliminate counterparty risk.

The project was completed over three days towards the end of 2021 and was also involved the SIX Swiss Stock Exchange, the country’s main provider of financial infrastructure services.

It also covered the issue and reimbursement of CBDC at wholesale level and its use for payments, securities purchases in Switzerland and cross-border transactions.

For more information, read the original story in Reuters.