As the Reuters news agency said on 17th May , the Swiss Federal Council wants to commission a study to provide information about the risks and opportunities of having its own cryptocurrency. This would be a first step towards the “E-franc”.

After Venezuela introduced Petro in February this year , both Turkey and Iran were thinking of creating their own cryptocurrency. The Swedish riksbank also believes that an e-crown could help tackle problems that underlie the ever-rarer use of cash. Now Switzerland also seems to want to integrate into this series — with a so-called “E-franc”.

On the way to the E-franc

The Bank for International Settlements advised central banks in March to undertake detailed research into potential risks before considering creating their own cryptocurrency. The Swiss Federal Council obviously takes this advice very seriously. First, he wants to check which risks would be accompanied by the introduction of an E-franc.

The impetus for this study was given by the Vice-President of the Social Democratic Party, Cedric Wermuth. Although the Federal Council supported this proposal, it also pointed out that there were hurdles:

“The Federal Council is aware of the major legal and monetary challenges associated with the use of an e-franc. This requires that the proposal be adopted in order to examine the risks and opportunities of an E-Franc and to clarify the legal, economic and financial aspects of the E-Franc. “

In fact, for the time being, the lower house of the Swiss parliament must decide whether it can grant the request of the Federal Council. If this is the case, the Swiss Ministry of Finance will prepare a study on state cryptocurrency. A timeframe for this has not yet been published.

Switzerland was always very crypto-friendly , especially with its “crypto-valley” train . Nevertheless, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) is rather skeptical about state cryptocurrency. For example, Andrea Maechler of the SNB said at the beginning of April that she sees digital private sector digital currencies are better and less risky than any version that might be offered by a central bank.

Marko Vidrih

@cryptomarks

image via pixabay