The Swiss Banking Association (SBA) is coordinating a tokenized deposit project with a dozen banks aiming to introduce a tokenized Swiss Franc. The banks are BCV, Credit Suisse, Entris Banking, Hypothekarbank Lenzburg, InCore Bank, Julius Baer, PostFinance, Sygnum, UBS, Vontobel, VZ Depotbank and Zürcher Kantonalbank.
Three months ago, the banking association published a paper exploring the topic. It outlined several potential paths, including standardized tokens to enable interoperability or a joint token with segregated reserves. While the association favored the latter route, so far the banks have not yet decided which path to adopt.
The SBA emphasized the solution wil be compliant and scalable. Hence it is engaging with regulators as well as other blockchain initiatives in Switzerland.
The project is “paramount for the future competitiveness of the Swiss financial sector,” said the association.
There’s a growing number of deposit token initiatives around the world. Germany has started working on one. Next week the New York Federal Reserve plans to share the results of proof of concept with the Regulated Liability Network, involving eight banks including Citi, BNY Mellon, Wells Fargo and HSBC.
