Bank of Spain Wants to Test a Digital Currency, Open for Proposals

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Spain's central bank invited companies and entities interested in joining to collaborate with a pilot CBDC program.

It is a separate initiative from the Eurosystem's efforts.
Banco de España, the country's central bank, is interested in starting to test a digital currency and is inviting interested companies and organizations to join in the development.

In an official announcement published on Monday, the Spanish monetary institution stated its intention to carry out an experimentation program regarding the use of digital tokens for the settlement of payment transactions and wholesale securities, so it is opening a call for proposals for collaboration from interested entities.

Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are being tested and studied in many jurisdictions, the bank acknowledged. In many cases, experimentation is focused on the retail or universal purpose aspect of a CBDC, although financial institutions are also interested in the wholesale or interbank nature, it added.

A common goal among central banks is to determine the effective capacity of these digital assets to increase the efficiency, agility and security with which financial market infrastructures operate. At the same time, they also seek to address current demand and digitization needs, the organization emphasized. With this in mind, it detailed plans to initiate its own testing program for a digital currency.