The Swiss National Bank (SNB) has partnered with six commercial banks, including UBS, Zuercher Kantonal Bank, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise, Basler Kantonalbank, Commerzbank, and Hypothekarbank Lenzburg for a wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) pilot project. The project, called Helvetia Phase III, aims to tokenize the Swiss franc for digital securities transactions on SDX, a regulated Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) platform.

The pilot project, led by SNB Chairman Thomas Jordan, will run from December 2023 to June 2024. It will test the use of Swiss Franc wholesale CBDC for settling transactions with tokenized assets. This approach is expected to bring increased efficiency and transparency to certain regulated sectors.

Wholesale CBDCs are specifically designed for interbank transfers and are being considered by central banks in the euro area as well. They differ from retail CBDCs, which are intended for consumer use. Privacy concerns associated with retail CBDCs are considered less significant for wholesale CBDCs.