Swiss National Bank Exploring Ways to Tokenize Financial Assets

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Swiss National Bank Chairman Thomas Jordan highlighted the institution’s exploration of digital asset tokenization as a means to enhance payment security and efficiency during an event in Basel on Monday. Tokenization involves representing financial asset claims digitally on a programmable platform, often leveraging distributed ledger technology.

Jordan emphasized the importance for central banks to determine their approach to these developments, which proponents argue will accelerate payment processes and reduce costs. He outlined three potential approaches: adopting a wait-and-see approach and intervening only if tokenization becomes widespread, taking independent action regardless of market adoption, or gradually identifying optimal solutions through collaborative experiments with market participants.

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) leans towards the third option, according to Jordan, as it assesses both the risks and benefits of tokenization. One initiative, known as Helvetia III, enables the use of tokenized central bank money for transaction settlement. This project has already facilitated four bond issuances by Swiss local governments.

Jordan underscored the SNB’s commitment to supporting innovation in the financial system while maintaining a prudent and responsible approach. He highlighted the significance of the Helvetia III pilot in advancing the exploration of tokenization’s potential to enhance the current financial infrastructure, particularly through the issuance of wholesale central bank digital currency on a regulated third-party platform.