The Philippine central bank has completed trials for a wholesale CBDC proof-of-concept designed to enable round-the-clock fund transfers among financial institutions.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has concluded testing for Project Agila, a proof-of-concept for a wholesale central bank digital currency aimed at streamlining interbank payments, the central bank revealed in a press release on Thursday, Dec. 5.

The initiative allows financial institutions to transfer funds securely even during non-business hours, including evenings, weekends, and holidays, using distributed ledger technology hosted on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, the press release reads.

The pilot tested various aspects of the system, including functionality, performance, security, and programmability, according to the BSP.

Unlike retail CBDCs meant for the public use, wholesale CBDCs are issued by central banks for use by commercial banks and financial institutions in high-value transactions, such as interbank payments, securities settlements, and cross-border transactions.

BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona, Jr. highlighted the potential benefits of wholesale CBDCs, stating they are expected to “enhance liquidity management, reduce settlement risks, and support financial stability.” Although the result of the pilot weren’t disclosed, Remolona added that insights from Project Agila would inform the central bank’s future CBDC roadmap, which seeks to leverage digital technologies to improve the efficiency and resilience of the national payment system.

Introduced in March 2022, Project Agila is designed to evaluate the potential of CBDC technology to improve the efficiency and reliability of the Philippines’ large-value payment system. Although the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has not yet committed to adopting a CBDC, the initiative highlights its broader strategy to embrace emerging technologies, aiming to accelerate the digitization of the nation’s financial infrastructure.

The European Central Bank is urging faster action on the digital euro as legislative delays risk hindering progress amid growing global competition.

The digital euro project is facing delays in the European Union, with the European Central Bank urging faster action to prevent Europe from falling behind global competitors.

Evelien Witlox, the ECB’s project manager for the digital euro, told Euronews in an interview that Europe should speed up with the development to avoid falling behind, as global competitors like the U.K. and China are also exploring central bank digital currencies.

Thus far, there is no pan-European digital payment solution as 13 of the 20 countries in the eurozone lack a national card scheme, relying instead on international players like Visa and Mastercard, the report notes. Witlox noted that the European market remains fragmented, with “the ones that come closest to covering the whole of Europe are non-European.”

To address this, the ECB launched a CBDC exploration project in October 2021. However, before the digital euro can move forward, the European Parliament and Council must finalize the legal framework—a process that has yet to be completed nearly 17 months after the European Commission’s proposal. This delay has raised concerns within the ECB, Witlox noted.

Although discussions on the digital euro have made progress, Witlox reiterated the need for urgency to keep “sufficient pace in this process so that we can ensure that the digital euro will be there when we really need it.” Although there is no set timeline for the digital euro’s launch, Witlox remains optimistic, stressing that Europe is still “at the forefront of the development [of a CBDC].”

SWIFT will trial live transactions of tokenized assets and digital currencies in 2025, aiming to integrate blockchain-based tokens into the broader financial system.

Global financial messaging network SWIFT will trial live transactions of tokenized assets and digital currencies in 2025, marking a step toward broader adoption of blockchain-based finance, per a Reuters report on Oct. 3.

Banks and asset managers have long explored tokenizing assets like bonds, hoping blockchain technology can streamline trading and cut costs by eliminating middlemen. However, these efforts have struggled to gain traction in the wider market.

SWIFT has been involved in trials of central bank digital currencies and tokenized assets. The network’s latest initiative aims to connect these innovations with traditional banking, a move SWIFT says reflects rising industry demand for real-world digital asset transactions.

“To successfully trade and settle a tokenized bond transaction, you need the cash and that’s where a tokenized deposit or wholesale CBDC comes in. It’s not good enough if you just have delivery or just payment, you need both.”

SWIFT

As 90% of the world’s central banks explore digital currency options, SWIFT’s new platform — expected to launch within the next one to two years — aims to integrate CBDCs into the financial ecosystem. The organization believes that successful trading and settlement of tokenized bonds require both tokenized deposits or wholesale CBDCs, ensuring that payment and delivery are equally supported.

However, despite SWIFT’s integration efforts, not all countries are rushing to develop their digital currencies. Concerns persist regarding technological and regulatory hurdles, as highlighted by Sweden’s Riksbank, which emphasized the need for extensive technical and regulatory development to ensure secure offline payments with e-kronas.