The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has launched the Icebreaker Project together with the central banks of Sweden, Norway and Israel to see how CBDCs can be used for international remittances and retail payments.

According to the announcement:

“The Icebreaker Project is a collaboration between the Bank of Israel, the Central Bank of Norway, Sveriges Riksbank and the BIS Innovation Center Nordic Center to develop a “hub” to which participating central banks will connect their national trial CBDC systems. of concept”.

Given that cross-border payments are accustomed to insufficient transparency, limited access, low speeds and high costs, the Icebreaker Project seeks to explore how central bank digital currencies (CBDC) can bridge the gap.

Ideally, it will examine the technological feasibility and specific key functions of the interconnection of various national networks of CBDCs.

The final project report is scheduled for the first quarter of 2023, since it will last until the end of the year.

Andrew Abir, deputy governor of the Bank of Israel, noted:

“The results of the project will be very important in guiding our future work on the digital shekel.”

He added:

“Efficient and accessible cross-border payments are of the utmost importance for a small and open economy like Israel’s and this was identified as one of the main motivations for a possible issuance of a digital shekel.”

According to a survey conducted by Ripple, CBDCs have generated an overwhelming consensus among global financial leaders.

The study revealed that more than 70% of them were confident that CBDCs would spur financial inclusion, reported Blockchain.News.

Once implemented, CBDCs are expected to drive financial inclusion for the nearly 1.7 billion people left out of the banking system. This is because CBDCs are digital assets linked to real-world assets and backed by central banks.

According to a study by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), in May, 90% of major banks showed intentions to implement central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). More than 110 countries are currently in one stage or another of the CBDC development process, and many more are ready to join the trend.

-With the help of Annie Li-

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