Banque de France announces candidates for experiments with Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)

Following the examination of the applications received on May 15 in response to the call for applications for experiments with central bank digital money (MDBC) in interbank settlements launched by the Banque de France, the following 8 applications were deductions (in alphabetical order): Accenture, Euroclear, HSBC, Iznes, LiquidShare, ProsperUS, Seba Bank, Societe Generale – Forge.

The experiments proposed by the successful candidates will allow (i) to explore new methods of exchanging financial instruments (excluding crypto-assets) against central bank money, (ii) to test the regulation in central bank digital money in order to improve the conditions of execution of cross-border payments and (iii) revisit the methods of making central bank money available.

„In the coming days, the Banque de France will begin work with each of the eight candidates in order to carry out the experiments over the coming months,” according to the press release.

The strong mobilization around this call for applications testifies to the interest of the actors of finance and technology for this approach aimed at „exploring the potential contributions of a digital currency issued by the central bank to improve the functioning of the financial markets, in particular interbank settlements”.

The lessons learned from these experiments will constitute „a direct contribution to the more global reflection conducted by the Eurosystem on the benefits of a central bank digital currency,” the Banque said. 

These experiments also illustrate the Banque de France’s commitment to innovation, which was recently chosen to host, with the Deutsche Bundesbank and the European Central Bank, a new joint innovation center in Europe within the framework of of the Innovation Hub of the Bank for International Settlements.