The Bank for International Settlements’ Innovation Hub (BISIH) has reportedly classified CBDC as the primary focus for 2021, as detailed in its plans to carry out numerous trials throughout the world. 

Specifically stated in its yearly work program, BISIH is reportedly looking to deep-dive into “the feasibility of faster and cheaper cross-border payments”, employing CBDC. 

BISIH reportedly claimed it will spend efforts studying prototypes of “tiered retail CBDC distribution architectures” and distributed ledgers, in a bid to generate “tokenized green bonds to retail investors.”

The BIS initiatives will reportedly be spearheaded by the Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland-headquartered Innovation Hub Centres, which have been set up cooperatively with central banks in the respective territory. 

The Sing-based BISIH facility is reportedly in charge of designing an “international settlement platform”, which supports the transaction finalization process for regulated banks and payment companies, using numerous CBDCs.

The Hong Kong center will reportedly spend resources on the green bond tokenization initiative, together with designing a bridge to support foreign exchange transactions using CBDCs, as well as studying other  models for stablecoin issuance.

BISIH’s Swiss facility has reportedly been able to finalize two proofs-of-concept connecting currently utilized payment networks, in an effort to run testing for tokenized assets settlement, using wholesale CBDC, via its “Project Helvetia” initiative.

“This work programme shows our commitment to exploring in the most practical ways how best to harness technological change for the benefit of central banks and create public goods to support the global financial system.” BISIH head, Benoît Cœuré, reportedly remarked.