France Incorporates Cryptocurrencies in Government Bonds, Here’s Everything You Should Know

The Central Bank of France is currently running a pilot in which government bonds would incorporate crypto assets transactions in the debt market. The program would continue for 10-months and would see the country’s biggest financial players take part in it to check the feasibility. The trial would incorporate a blockchain system developed by IBM which would be used by the likes of securities depository Euroclear and includes many of France’s largest banks, as well as the French public debt office and the central bank.

The digital asset pilot was commissioned back in March by the central bank to check how CBDCs would be feasible amid the growing popularity of public digital assets. The pilot program used a digital asset issued by the French Central Bank. The group of companies involved in the pilot traded government bonds as security tokens and settled them with cryptocurrencies.

The pilot tested several possible use cases for these CBDCs in the bond market as well as the retail market. A report published in Financial Times indicates that a total of 500 instructions were carried out in the primary as well as the secondary market, but didn’t reveal much detail on the financial and volume of transactions carried out.

“We have together successfully been able to measure the inherent benefits of this technology, concluding that the central bank digital currencies can settle central bank money safely and securely,” said Isabelle Delorme, deputy chief executive of Euroclear France.

CBDC Race is On

As China nears the mass launch of its national CBDC referred to as digital yuan, other countries have also accelerated their development and testing process. Earlier France has also carried out cross-border transactions using CBDC in partnership with Switzerland’s central bank.

The United States is currently more focused on regulating the crypto market as well as the stablecoin market while its CBDC development has taken a backseat.