The Riksbank, Sweden’s central bank that started testing its own central bank digital currency (CBDC) in February, wants to host the digital currency innovation hub by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

Officially announcing the news on March 6, the Riksbank noted that in order for the hub to be located in Sweden, the bank would need to undertake a number of measures to co-finance the activity.

As such, the Riksbank proposed an amendment to the Sveriges Riksbank Act, asking the Swedish parliament, the Riksdag, for approval to finance the activities of international organizations.

The Riksbank requested the parliament for permission to co-finance such activities for a period of five years and at a maximum cost of 30 million Swedish krona ($3.1 million) per year, should the BIS chooses to establish a hub in Sweden.

The Riksbank circulated a referral on the amendment proposal on Jan 23, 2020, noting that the majority of referral bodies like other authorities, organizations, and stakeholders either supported the proposal or have no objection to it.

Other hub locations for digital currencies include Switzerland, Singapore, and Hong Kong

As reported, the BIS has been actively establishing the BIS innovation hub over the course of 2019 in order to bring together global central banks to bolster the global payment and financial system.

The initial locations of the Hub’s multidisciplinary teams included Switzerland, Singapore, and Hong Kong, As reported by the media, Switzerland has been actively researching central bank digital currencies and distributed ledger technology infrastructure within the hub.

Sweden’s move to establish a BIS Innovation Hub falls in line with the increasing digitization of payment services in the country alongside a rapid decline in the use of cash, the Riksbank noted.

As the Riksbank has been progressing with its own CBDC, inclusion in the BIS’ innovation hub ecosystem would be crucial as the bank “has a comparative advantage in relation to other central banks,” the bank said.

Sweden’s central bank first revealed its plans to create a pilot platform for the e-krona in December 2019. In order to build the platform, the Riksbank partnered with Irish professional services company Accenture. On Feb 20, Sweden started testing the e-krona announcing that the pilot would be in operation for one year.