France, Luxembourg Test CBDC for 100M Euro Bond Issue

France and Luxembourg have used an experimental central bank digital currency (CBDC) to settle a bond worth 100 million euros (US$104 million), the latest in a series of trials in tokenized financial markets.

The Venus Initiative "shows how digital assets can be issued, distributed and settled within the eurozone, in a single day" and "confirms that a well-designed CBDC can play a critical role in the development of a safe tokenised financial asset space in Europe," Nathalie Aufauvre, general director of financial stability and operations at Banc de France, the French central bank, said in a statement.

The initiative also involved Goldman Sachs, Santander and Societe Generale as well as the publicly funded European Investment Bank.

The trial is the latest in a series of CBDC tests by the French central bank to manage liquidity in decentralized finance and settle cross-border transactions. The European Union has recently legislated to test out blockchain-based securities trading.

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