Smart Valor boss Olga Feldmeier is doing what Switzerland's central bank has until now refused to do: issue an e-Swiss franc.

Sweden's central bank is pushing ahead with a digital version of the Swedish krona as the country phases our cash. Switzerland's central bank is tiptoeing around plans for an e-Swiss francs – and now Smart Valor has jumped into the breach.

Led by CEO Olga Feldmeier, the blockchain start-up is launching a project to create a digital franc, the company said at a conference in Zurich. The cryptocurrency, dubbed CHFt, is to be designed as a token underpinned with fiat Swiss francs.

Liechtenstein License

Smart Valor wants to work with a network of independent issuers, putting the company's technical infrastructure at their disposal. «This massively reduces the counterparty risk connected to a possible failure of a single banking institution», Feldmeier said in a statement.

Swiss-based Smart Valor will head next door to Liechtenstein, where it has applied for a banking license, to issue the coin. The company is already negotiating with banks and crypto exchanges for its network, and a major consulting firm is also part of the discussion.

Smart Valor is hoping to sway banks with the argument that it will open up transactions between traditional banking and cryptocurrencies.