Swiss National Bank Leans Toward Tokenization for Financial Innovation

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) has embarked on an ambitious initiative to digitally tokenize financial assets. Thomas Jordan, chairman of the governing board, announced the move on Monday, emphasizing the need for increased security and efficiency in payment systems.

Specifically speaking, the chairman unveiled Project Helvetia III. This pilot marks the first time a central bank has issued a wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) on a regulated, external platform. This digital Swiss franc can be used by participating banks to settle transactions involving tokenized bonds on the SIX Digital Exchange (SDX). SDX functions as a regulated marketplace for buying and selling tokenized assets.

“Helvetia III is a good example of how learnings from BIS Innovation Hub projects can be leveraged for real world use. We started this work together with the Hub’s Swiss Centre and the private sector more than four years ago. In Helvetia I and II, we jointly expanded our understanding of wholesale CBDC and shared the findings with the central bank community. We took advantage of this groundwork to launch Helvetia III in December 2023, bringing Swiss franc wholesale CBDC from a test setting to real use,” he said.

Tokenization involves creating digital representations of claims on financial assets using programmable platforms, often built on distributed ledger technology. By doing so, these assets become more accessible, secure, and efficient.

Jordan emphasized the critical role central banks play in determining the future of tokenization. He outlined three distinct strategic approaches that central banks can adopt.

The first approach is a wait-and-see stance. In this scenario, central banks would choose to observe how the market embraces tokenization and only intervene if it achieves widespread adoption.

The second approach is independent action. Here, central banks would take a proactive role and lead the way in shaping the future of tokenization, irrespective of current market trends.

The third approach, and the one favored by the Swiss National Bank (SNB), is collaborative experimentation. This approach involves central banks working closely with market participants through experiments to identify the most optimal solutions for tokenization.

Notably, the convergence of technology, regulation, and collaboration will shape the future of financial assets.