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France’s central bank, Banque de France (BDF), has announced on completing a settlement of around €2 million (US$ 2.43 million) in a CBDC pilot. The trial was completed last month using the blockchain-based platform from the IZNES fund platform. The DLT service was provided by SETL, a London-based settlement and payments infrastructure provider. Reportedly, the trial looked forward to testing the function of interbank settlements through a blockchain network.
SETL and BDF Provided the DLT Infrastructure for the CBDC
SETL provided the necessary distributed ledger technology (DLT) and the infrastructure for the issuance and redemption of the CBDC tokens in collaboration with the BDF and IZNES.
Other parties that were involved in the project include Citigroup, CACEIS, the custody bank of Groupe Credit Agricole, Groupama Asset Management, OFI Asset Management, and DXC Technology.
In the announcement release, SETL’s CEO Philippe Morel commented:
“We are now excited to take our payments offering to the next level. Together with our proven track record in delivering regulated market infrastructures, this further strengthens SETL’s strategic capabilities.”
Various Parties Played Key Roles in the Project
Citigroup and CACEIS acted as the participating commercial banks that purchased the CDBC tokens from the French central bank, while CACEIS acted as the custodian of the Groupama funds. Meanwhile, DXC supervised the security issues while Groupama AM acted as the fund manager. OFI AM and SETL played the roles of proprietary investors.
David Walker, SETL chairman, commented on the successful transaction:
“The successful completion of a central bank digital currency live experiment with BDF confirms that SETL is uniquely positioned to help transform financial markets. We are delighted to be recognised for the role we play in these significant market transformation programmes.”
In the digital currency trail experiment, the central bank settled fund transactions worth over €2 million using the digital currency. Shares of the money market fund Groupama Enterprises were subscribed and then redeemed on the IZNES Platform using the CBDCs.