- CBDC Trials in Spain:
- Banco de España, Spain’s central bank, has awarded contracts for a six-month pilot project to trial the use of wholesale central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) for securities settlement.
- Consortium Partners:
- A consortium involving Spanish banks Cecabank and Abanca has been selected for the project.
- Adhara Blockchain, a technology partner of Fnality in the UK, has been contracted to design and deliver the underlying wholesale infrastructure for the CBDC trials.
- Project Scope:
- The pilot project aims to issue two or more wholesale CBDCs for cross-border, interbank, and coupon payment purposes.
- It will also involve the tokenization and settlement of a simulated bond.
- Digital Infrastructure Support:
- Adhara Blockchain is expected to provide support with a digital interbank orchestration platform, facilitating atomic settlement and issuing CBDCs and wallets to platform participants.
- Selection Process:
- Banco de España selected the consortium and Adhara Blockchain from a pool of 24 applications.
- The decision comes a year after the central bank expressed its intention to welcome applications for project partners.
- European Digital Euro Efforts:
- While Spain works on CBDC projects, including Cecabank and Abanca, the Spanish banking sector continues to support Europe-wide efforts to explore the development of a digital euro.
- The European Central Bank (ECB)-led initiative has considered CBDCs in retail, wholesale, and distributed ledger technology (DLT) securities transactions.
- Focus of Spain’s CBDC Endeavors:
- Spain’s CBDC endeavors appear to be oriented toward tokenized deposits and DLT securities, especially in the context of interbank payments and securities settlement through delivery versus payment (DVP).
- Strategic Timeline:
- Banco de España first revealed its intention to find suitable partners for the CBDC project in December 2022, indicating a primary focus on CBDCs in interbank payments and securities settlement within Spain’s financial system.
