Swiss National Bank (SNB) has announced that they will launch a wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC) pilot project on the Swiss SIX digital exchange. The project will run for a limited time and involve real transactions with market participants. The wCBDC will be equivalent to bank reserves and will test its ability to work with decentralized finance. SNB is still cautious about a retail CBDC but has not ruled out its introduction.
The SNB integrated a wCBDC into the back-office systems of five banks early last year as part of its Project Helvetia, which completed a proof of concept for wCBDC. SNB governing board member Andréa Maechler stated that the central bank does not foresee the replacement of cash in the country.