Riksbank Reports on Phase 2 of its CBDC Proof of Concept Work
Phase 2 of the Riksbank’s e-krona central bank digital currency (CBDC) project is now complete. Proof of concept work included investigating how banks and other payment service providers could be integrated into an e-krona network (in collaboration with Handelsbanken and Tietoevry) and whether and how an e-krona might function off-line. The tests have shown, for instance, that it is possible to integrate a potential e-krona into the internal systems the banks have today, and this would make it possible for their customers to exchange money in their bank account for e-kronor, and vice versa. The tests of the R3 Corda-based technical solution have also shown that it would be possible to transact in e-krona when temporarily offline.
Phase 3 will continue to test specific parts of the technical solution including testing and exploring how smart contracts can be used to create new payment services without risking the fundamental characteristics of the e-krona, and without the Riksbank as the issuer of the e-krona having to be directly involved. Also, the Riksbank plans comparing the Corda-based technical solution with other possible solutions platforms. In the spring, therefore, a Request For Information (RFI) will be sent out, where market participants will be able to describe how their proposed solution could work for an e-krona. In addition, the project will gather views from various actors in the payment market and from the general public. [Read more]
Upcoming events I’m affiliated with:
The CBDC Think Tank is hosting several webinars over the next month:
- On April 20 (at 08:00 EST) the Bank of Kazakhstan will present on their Digital Tenge retail CBDC project. [Register here]
- On April 27 (at 08:00 EST) the BIS and the Swiss National Bank will present on their Project Helvetia wholesale CBDC work. [Register here]
- On May 3 (at 08:00 EST) the Bank of Ukraine will present on their E-Hryvnia retail CBDC project. [Register here]
Satoshi Capital Advisors is hosting a virtual workshop on wholesale CBDC, stablecoins and digital capital markets on May 24 (starting at 08:00 EST). [Register here with the passcode: CBDC]
