Bank of France presents CBDC progress, sets next steps

The governor announced there has been a ‘hands-on approach’ with the bank’s experiment to launch a digital euro for the public. At the beginning of 2020, the Bank of France published a request for proposals for CBDC ‘experiment’ applications. The project focused on helping France’s central bank understand the risks and mechanisms of CBDCs and contribute to the eurozone’s digital cash conversation.

In May 2020, the bank started working closely with Societe Generale to test out digital transactions, tokenization of securities as well as the settlement of a transaction on the private blockchain. The bank is currently analysing whether tokenization can help with cross-border payments.

Next, the bank plans eight CBDC experiments to investigate not only the potential of the technology but also to question the players in the ecosystem on what tomorrow’s landscape could look like. Also, via these experiments the bank aims to assess whether the regulatory framework currently in force needs to be adapted since these experiments are carried out within the current legal framework.

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