Banque de France Publishes Experimental Report Using Distributed Ledger Technology for Wholesale CBDC

The National Bank of France published a report on its experience with wholesale CBDC (wCBDC) experiments using distributed ledger technology (DLT), demonstrating the operational feasibility and practical implementation of three models of its wCBDC issuance directly on DLT, including interoperability models, distribution models, and integration models. These three models have been tested using different types of DLT in a wide range of use cases, covering two key strategic areas: financial tokenization and improvement of cross-border transactions. The experimental conclusions include: 1. The issuance of wholesale CBDC as a supplement to retail CBDC will contribute to the unity of currency by ensuring the anchor value of central bank currency in retail and wholesale payments and the convertibility between different forms of private currency. 2. International cooperation and public-private partnerships remain priorities for building a more globally inclusive and interoperable wholesale CBDC framework. 3. Interoperability should be prioritized to ensure seamless data and transaction exchange between DLT-based infrastructure and traditional infrastructure. 4. Climate-related issues highlight the need to develop energy-efficient solutions in wholesale CBDC designs.