This week, the Banque de France announced the participants in its wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) tests. One them is French fund management platform IZNES, which was originally developed by UK blockchain startup SETL. Yesterday SETL said it would support the IZNES consortium in the CBDC trial alongside Citi, consultants DXC and Caceis.
Additionally, three academics are part of the consortium. They include Prof. Bertrand MUNIER for his knowledge of financial and monetary matters, Dr. Paolo TASCA, the leader of UCL’s Centre for Blockchain Technology, and Prof. Sophie SCHILLER for her regulatory expertise.
IZNES was one of the first big financial blockchain solutions that attracted widespread adoption in the French market.
Meanwhile, Citi is currently one of the largest shareholders in SETL and as of this March owned more than a third of its Series A shares.
Previously, SETL ran into financial difficulties after founding IZNES and central security depositary ID2S. As a result, the company SETL Development went into administration and the new firm SETL Limited bought the assets and the IP, although it’s believed the interests in IZNES and ID2S may have been sold. The management of the old and new SETL is significantly the same.
