Société Générale – one of the largest financial conglomerates in Europe – will test out the possibility of introducing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) using the Tezos blockchain, as reported in a press release from Paris-based company Nomadic Labs, which is developing the ecosystem.
The Bank of France, as a result of the selection of partners, chose the Forge blockchain platform developed by Societe Generale. The platform will be used to test CBDC for interbank settlements. In a statement, Nomadic Labs said that the experiment will study the prospects of digitizing financial securities and the possibility of settlements on them using CBDC. In addition to Nomadic Labs, several technology service providers and consultants will participate in the testing.
Societe Generale chose the Tezos blockchain because this protocol is “a perfect long-term solution for high-value financial applications.” Tezos, according to the bank’s representatives, has all the characteristics necessary for the development of CBDC, including the ability to formally conduct verification of a smart contract.
In December last year, it became known that the Central Bank of France planned to begin testing its own CBDC in the first quarter of 2020. Bank chairman François Villeroy de Galhau has expressed a desire to make France the first country to introduce governmental digital currency. Earlier, in March 2020, the regulator invited interested companies to take part in testing. In May, it became known about the successful completion of tests on the potential issuance of digital euro based on a specially designed blockchain.
