France and Switzerland have concluded a test for the use of a wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) in cross-border transfers. Known as Project Jura, it also saw the participation of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and involved settling foreign exchange transactions in euro and Swiss franc wholesale CBDCs. The project began in June, with the BIS Innovation Hub, the Swiss National Bank, and the Bank of France taking the lead.
The project was part of a series of CBDC tests by the French central bank.
“Project Jura investigated whether distributed ledger technology can help make settlements simpler, cheaper, and faster using wholesale central bank digital currencies,” the BIS states in its video review. The project was part of a series of CBDC tests by the French central bank. In another experiment, the bank investigated whether a wholesale CBDC would be suitable for securities settlement. With Project Jura, the three major banks brought onboard stakeholders from the private sector as well.
The banks explored the direct transfer of euro and Swiss franc wholesale CBDCs.
The BIS revealed in its press release that the banks explored the direct transfer of euro and Swiss franc wholesale CBDCs between Swiss and French commercial banks on a single distributed ledger technology platform operated by a third party. The bank revealed that tokenized assets and FX transactions were settled safely and efficiently. Sylvie Goulard, the deputy governor of the Bank of France, noted, “with the great success of Jura, the wholesale CBDC experiment launched by the Banque de France in 2020 is now completed.” “Jura Project demonstrates how wholesale Coptimize optimize cross-currency and cross-border settlements, which are a key facet of international transactions,” he added.
