Sweden's central bank, Riksbank, has begun testing an e-krona, moving closer to creating the world's firstCentral Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
The pilot program will run forone year, until February 2021. The Riksbank says that when the e-krona goes into circulation, it will be used for everyday banking transactions, payment for goods, payments, deposits and withdrawals from the digital wallet.
The Riksbank statement says:
Project goal – show how the e-krona can be used by the general public.
Sweden announced its readiness to launch a pilot e-krona project at the end of last year after signing an agreement with the consulting company Accenture to supply the necessary technologies.
Then the French Central Bank announced the start of testing its digital currency (CBDC).
In January, the central banks of the UK, Japan, Sweden and Switzerland joined forces to evaluate the possibility of issuing a CBDC.
A sharp reduction in the use of cash andcompetition with alternative currencies such as Facebook's Libra has prompted central banks around the world to consider issuing their own electronic currencies.
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