The Bank of Spain has selected Secabank, Abanca and Adhara Blockchain as collaborators for a six-month pilot exploring CBDCs, apart from its Digital Euro initiative.
Spain’s central bank, the Banque de España, has revealed key collaborators and moved forward with its consideration of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), a year after calling for an open partnership. Selected partners include Cecabank, Abanca and Adhara Blockchain, which were chosen from among 24 applicants.
UK-headquartered Adhara Blockchain is adding an international dimension to this Spanish initiative.
The pilot phase of the wholesale CBDC project, which will be rolled out over the next six months, will include interbank payment processing and settlement simulation. The focus is on the use of a single tokenized wholesale CBDC and the exchange of wholesale CBDCs from different central banks. Additionally, this experiment employs the Cecabank-Abanca consortium to settle mock tokenized bonds using a wholesale CBDC.
Spain’s CBDC program remains distinct from the broader digital euro initiative, underscoring its independence. At the same time, Spain’s Ministry of Economy and Digital Transformation has committed to implementing the European Union’s crypto market regulations ahead of schedule.
Despite these developments, an October survey revealed that 65% of Spaniards are not interested in adopting a digital euro as a complement to existing payment methods.