| Arvinder Bharath (International Monetary Fund)
| Beju Shah (Bank for International Settlements)

Session #27 of FNA’s CBDC Broadcast delves into Project Polaris- a collaborative initiative focusing on the exploration and analysis of potential risk and mitigation strategies associated with tokenized securities and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs)

Guest Arvider Bharath (IMF) and Beju Shah (Bank for International Settlements) joined FNA to guide us through the project, which aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of how these emerging financial technologies can impact the stability of the financial system. We also discussed the role and importance of technologies like blockchain and international collaboration as guests shared case studies and lessons learned from the project.

• The key takeaways from Project Polaris
• Recommended risk mitigation strategies
• Case studies and lessons learned from Project Polaris

| Thomas Moser (Alternate Member of the Governing Board, Swiss National Bank)

| David Newns (Head of SIX Digital Exchange)

Guests Thomas Moser and David Newns joined FNA to explore the third phase of Project Helvetia, in which the Swiss National Bank and SIX test the introduction of a live CHF wholesale CBDC on a distributed ledger technology (DLT)- based financial market infrastructure.

In this session, we focused on the liquidity management implications of settling tokenized assets in Central Bank money, assessing the impact on liquidity demands and liquidity fragmentation risk before considering the lessons learned from the pilot project so far.

This third phase of Project Helvetia continues pivotal work previously undertaken alongside the Bank for International Settlements. The multi-phase project is a significant endeavour aiming to understand how central banks could offer settlement in central bank money.

| Danny Russell (Bank of England)
| Catherine Gu (Visa)

There are many challenges surrounding the development of CBDCs, from maximizing interoperability to encouraging public-private sector collaboration and driving consumer adoption.

Aiming to address these challenges is the BIS Innovation Hub London’s Project Rosalind- a joint experimentation with the Bank of England which aims to develop prototypes for an application programming interface that could best enable a Central Bank ledger to interact with private sector service providers to enable the safe provision of retail payments.

To offer further insight into Rosalind- named after British Scientist Rosalind Franklin and her work regarding DNA sequencing, guests Danny Russell (Bank of England) and Catherine Gu (VISA) joined FNA for Session #21 of the CBDC Broadcast.

In this session, we discussed the motivations behind the project and how it allows for further experimentation with CBDC design and interoperability, as well as the importance of public and private sector collaboration, drawing on the role of VISA and other private sector partnerships.

Sharmyn Powell (ECCB) joined session #20 of The CBDC Broadcast to discuss the promise and perils of emerging digital currencies.

Drawing upon her deep expertise, Sharmyn shared her perspective on how digital currencies, from rCBDCs to stablecoins and tokenized deposits, are changing the payment ecosystem and offered insight into the Dcash rCBDC project.

The session covered:

• The main motivation for rolling out DCash and an update on DCash adoption
• The factors driving/curbing DCash adoption, including education, internet access and use cases
• Why digital monies like cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and retail CBDCs have seen limited adoption so far
• The role of regulators and supervisors regarding digital currencies
• How digital currencies can foster innovation and benefit the public
• how can CBDCs and vehicles like DCash replicate the benefit cash offers at-risk groups

Guests Aniko Szombati, Chief Digital Officer Magyar Nemzeti Bank and Chris Ostrowski, Co-founder and CEO of SODA, joined FNA for Session #19 of the CBDC Broadcast, Testing DLT-based Central Bank Solutions.

In this session, we delved into the Central Bank of Hungary and SODA’s joint project on the use of digital solutions, including rCBDCs and NFTs, as we gained valuable insights into the pivotal role of public engagement and hands-on experiences in shaping the development and adoption of rCBDs by leveraging NFTs and coin collecting to improve the understanding and implementation of digital currencies.

Together, we explored how the Central Bank of Hungary is approaching adoption issues ahead of rolling out an rCBDC in an approach that cultivates the consumer use case for rCBDCs and prepares the public for the introduction of an rCBDC.

The Session Covered:

• The Central Bank of Hungary’s approach to launching an rCBDC and how it differs from the majority of current pilot projects
• The insights gained by implementing a blockchain-based ledger on its own infrastructure to test-drive digital solutions aimed at the public
• Lessons to share with other Central Banks considering the adoption of rCBDCs
• The public’s response to activities such as coin collecting and token swapping on the Money Museum mobile application and how it has developed and refined the rCBDC concept
• Whether the Central Bank of Hungary’s approach will foster the consumer use case for digital currencies and rCBDCs
• Potential future developments and trends in the realm of digital money, including rCBDcs and how they could shape the financial industry and society in Hungary and around the world.