Tokenised settlement in central bank money is moving from research to production-environment pilots. Institutions need to understand the operational impact before the infrastructure becomes mainstream.
Overview
The discussion on digital currencies is often dominated by retail central bank digital currencies and consumer wallets. For financial institutions, however, one of the most concrete developments is happening in the wholesale settlement layer: the use of central bank money, or central bank-linked settlement, for tokenised assets and digital market infrastructure.
Switzerland is a leading example. In the wholesale digital currency pilot, central bank money is being tested on a regulated DLT-based market infrastructure. Current project information indicates that the pilot phase has been extended, with no automatic commitment to introduce wholesale CBDC permanently. Parallel work is also exploring synchronized settlement models that could connect tokenised assets with traditional central bank money.
In the euro area, the digital euro project has moved beyond its preparation phase. Subject to the legislative process, pilot activities could start before the end of the decade and a first issuance could follow later. These developments do not mean that all institutions must immediately rebuild their payment stack. They do mean that digital settlement is becoming a board-level infrastructure topic.
Why wholesale settlement matters
Settlement is the point where market innovation becomes operational reality. A tokenised bond, fund unit or collateral asset can be designed digitally, but its institutional value depends on safe, final and efficient settlement. Central bank money remains the preferred settlement asset for systemic safety. The challenge is how to connect it to DLT-based or tokenised infrastructures.
Wholesale CBDC is one route. A synchronized RTGS link is another. Both aim to reduce settlement risk by aligning tokenised asset transfer with central bank money settlement. For banks and market infrastructures, this raises questions about connectivity, custody, cash accounts, intraday liquidity, reconciliation, settlement finality, smart-contract controls and regulatory reporting.
The strategic issue is not whether every asset will become tokenised. The issue is that parts of the financial market infrastructure are experimenting with settlement models that could change the operating logic of securities, payments, treasury and collateral processes.
Digital franc: what institutions should understand
Project Helvetia should not be misrepresented as a retail digital Swiss franc. It is focused on wholesale settlement for financial institutions. Its value for the market lies in testing how tokenised assets can be settled in central bank money in a regulated environment.
The addition of an RTGS link is important because it allows comparison between two approaches: direct settlement with wholesale CBDC on a DLT platform and synchronized settlement using traditional central bank money through the existing SIC system. This comparison can help clarify which model is more suitable for different use cases, risk profiles and market structures.
For Swiss institutions, the readiness questions include whether core banking, custody, treasury and compliance systems can support tokenised asset flows; whether operational teams understand DLT settlement events; and whether controls can evidence ownership, settlement status, reconciliation and exception resolution.
Digital euro: retail project, infrastructure implications
The digital euro is primarily designed as a central bank digital form of public money for payments in the euro area, not as a wholesale securities settlement tool. However, the project still matters for banks because distribution, wallet interaction, integration, liquidity implications, fraud controls, privacy requirements and customer communication would likely involve regulated intermediaries.
The digital euro has been framed as a project linked to payment resilience, inclusion, innovation and monetary sovereignty. For banks, the operational impact will depend on final legislation, scheme rules, holding limits, offline functionality, compensation model and technical requirements.
Institutions should monitor the project and assess potential impacts on payment operations, customer channels, fraud monitoring, data protection, treasury and back-office reconciliation.
Readiness before adoption
Digital currency readiness should begin with impact analysis, not implementation. Institutions should identify affected business areas: payments, treasury, securities settlement, custody, collateral management, reporting, compliance and technology architecture.
They should also build scenario roadmaps. One scenario may involve limited wholesale tokenised settlement participation. Another may involve client-facing digital euro distribution. A third may involve interoperability between tokenised deposits, stablecoins, CBDCs and traditional payment rails. The right answer is not one platform decision, but a structured readiness model.
Our Approach
- Digital Settlement Impact Assessment - Assess impact on payment, treasury, custody, securities, collateral, reconciliation and reporting processes.
- DLT and Core System Integration Review - Evaluate connectivity between core banking, custody platforms, DLT infrastructures, RTGS/SIC processes and compliance systems.
- Operating Model Design - Define roles, settlement monitoring, exception handling, custody responsibilities and evidence requirements for tokenised asset flows.
- Regulatory and Risk Assessment - Assess implications for AML, data protection, operational risk, settlement finality and financial market infrastructure dependencies.
- Strategic Roadmap - Prepare staged scenarios for wholesale CBDC, synchronized RTGS settlement and future digital euro-related requirements.
