French Central Bank Chooses Tezos For Digital Currency Trials

The French central bank chooses Tezos’ blockchain for central bank digital currency trials as one of the first in Europe so let’s find out more in today’s Tezos news.

Tezos was selected by the French Central Bank for digital euro trials which will focus in a central bank digital currency for interbank settlements. France is determined to become the first country to develop a CBDC.  Societe General, the tech startup launched by the French multinational investment bank selected Tezos for the central bank digital currency experiment according to the latest announcement today.

#Tezos selected by @SocieteGenerale -Forge for its Central Banking Digital Currency experiment. Nomadic Labs is proud to contribute to this project. More info below:https://t.co/gpblNTYzVX

— Nomadic Labs (@LabosNomades) September 15, 2020

The bank was chosen by the French Central Bank, in its call for applications to create a CBDC for interbank settlements. The experiment is one of the first in Europe so now the central bank is determined to get even more banks to start working on CBDC. Tezos is a public and decentralized blockchain with features including on-chain governance and a consensus algorithm based on the proof of stake so it has the ability to formally verify smart contracts. The blockchain platform has a very vibrant ecosystem including development startup Nomadic Labs, based in Paris which will be the key to the CBDC trials. The president of the company Michael Mauny said:

 “The Tezos project, strengthened by its technical capabilities, its adaptability, and its strong community, is already present in various projects, both in France and abroad. We are especially pleased to see this technology selected by Societe Generale – Forge, and to reaffirm, once again, that the quality and expertise of our engineering is rewarded.”

Banque de France governor Francois Villeroy de Galha said that he wanted France to be the first country to launch a digital currency:

“Since the start of the year, the Banque de France has embarked on an experimental approach to central bank digital currency, aimed at exploring with partners the potential contributions of new technologies to improve the functioning of the financial markets and more particularly interbank regulations (so-called “wholesale” central bank digital currency).”

While France seems to be leading the European charge towards CBDCs, a few other countries such as Lithuania and Italy are in the running as well. The European Central Bank has also confirmed that it’s working on trials but the details are still unknown. Tezos is one of the few public blockchains that is involved in CBDC trials which could feed into a future digital euro. The Central bank of France specified that proposals have to lean on utility and innovation.