Banco de España has finally announced its partners for the upcoming CBDC tests in Spain after a year of inviting applications for partners to join them in the wholesale CBDC pilot.
Banco de España, the central bank in Spain, recently announced the names of three partners for their CBDC tests. It published a resolution and named Adhara Blockchain, Cecabank, and Abanca its partners. Meanwhile, the bank had started receiving proposals from probable partners a year back. With a year of deliberations, the central bank looks ready for a wholesale CBDC pilot.
Central bank digital currencies have steadily gained clout across authorities worldwide with numerous use cases. With a digital yuan in China and a digital euro in Europe, central bank digital currencies are attracting regulators’ interest across several countries.
Meanwhile, CBDC adoption in Spain could get a headstart in the next six months with the CBDC pilot. Banco de España will likely test multiple use cases of the CBDC, including interbank payments. Along with Cecabank and Abanka, the central bank may start settling simulated tokenized bonds using a wholesale CBDC. Meanwhile, the three partners for the pilot were selected from over 24 applicants.
The CBDC pilot in Spain is an independent exercise unrelated to the digital euro. Moreover, Spain is in complete tandem with Europe’s crypto regulatory laws and could even implement them earlier.
Earlier, the central bank had published a note about the digital euro. It said, “The objective is clear: to be able to complement the range of payment solutions available to citizens, including cash. The digital euro would be an additional option that would ensure access to public money with all its guarantees, also in an increasingly digital environment,” in a translated version of its note.
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