Date: 08 January, 2024
Banco de España has awarded a contract to develop the foundational wholesale infrastructure for a project exploring the use of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) in securities settlement. In collaboration with Spanish banks Cecabank and Abanca, the consortium will conduct a six-month pilot project aiming to issue multiple wholesale CBDCs for cross-border interbank transactions and coupon payments. The initiative will also involve tokenizing and settling a simulated bond. Adhara Blockchain will contribute a digital interbank orchestration platform to facilitate atomic settlement and CBDC issuance to platform participants.
Selected from a pool of 24 applicants, the trio secured the contracts a year after Banco de España first announced its invitation for project partners. While the central bank focuses on these CBDC initiatives, the Spanish banking sector, represented by Cecabank and Abanca, continues to actively support broader European efforts to explore the possibility of a digital euro. The European Central Bank (ECB) leads the development of the digital euro, considering CBDC applications in retail, wholesale, and distributed ledger technology (DLT) securities transactions. However, Spain’s current endeavours seem particularly oriented towards tokenized deposits and DLT securities. Banco de España’s initial emphasis, revealed in December 2022, was on utilizing CBDCs in interbank payments, securities settlement via delivery versus payment (DVP), and addressing systemic considerations within Spain’s financial landscape.
Key Points:
- Banco de España wholesale CBDC infrastructure for digital securities settlement.
- Consortium with Cecabank and Abanca to conduct a six-month pilot for cross-border interbank CBDC transactions.
- Project includes tokenizing and settling a simulated bond a digital interbank orchestration platform.
- Trio selected from 24 applicants after Banco de España’s year-long invitation for project partners.
- Spanish banks, Cecabank and Abanca, actively support broader European digital euro exploration led by the ECB.
- Spain’s CBDC initiatives lean towards tokenized deposits and DLT securities, focusing on interbank payments and DVP securities settlement.
- Initial emphasis, disclosed in December 2022, aimed at addressing systemic considerations in Spain’s financial system.
References:
https://www.fintechfutures.com/2024/01/banco-de-espana-announces-partners-for-wholesale-cbdc-trials/