The Swiss National Bank (SNB) has announced the extension and expansion of Project Helvetia, which explores the settlement of tokenized assets in central bank money. This initiative could play a role in fulfilling the SNB’s future mandate. Since late 2023, the SNB has been providing central bank digital currency (CBDC) for financial institutions on the SIX Digital Exchange platform as part of this project.
Following an evaluation, the SNB has decided to extend Project Helvetia for another year, continuing its pilot phase until at least mid-2027. However, this extension does not imply a commitment to permanently introduce wholesale CBDC.
Additionally, Project Helvetia will now include settling tokenized assets with traditional central bank money through a Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) link. BX Digital, a financial market infrastructure planning to operate a trading facility for tokenized assets, will receive a production-environment connection to the Swiss Interbank Clearing system.
Both approaches were initially tested during Phase I of Project Helvetia. A direct comparison with their implementation in a production environment is expected to yield further insights into their respective advantages and disadvantages.
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