Riksbank, the central bank of Sweden, a new pilot project is starting to develop a national digital currency. Accenture is the leading partner in the project, and the currency is currently called e-krona. Riksbank wants e-krona to act as a complement to cash.
Digital currency opportunities for the public
The central bank of Sweden wants to show the possibilities and use cases of the digital currency to the general public. Sweden's first national digital currency would be simple and easy for people to use. Further. Riksbank considers all security and performance requirements for a standard digital currency while developing e-krona.
E-krona will be available for the first evaluators so that they can store it in a digital wallet and also perform daily actions such as payments and withdrawals and deposits using a mobile application. Users can pay with e-krona using portable devices and cards.
Riksbank first begins a pilot project to test the risks and opportunities of e-krona with testers and commercial locations. The test project will run until the end of February 2021. The technical development will then continue to provide solutions to the likely challenges. In addition, further development is planned to begin and continue after the test phase.
Blockchain as a founding technology
Anyone can assume that all national digital currency projects need a reliable infrastructure to provide security and high performance to the public. Due to the distributed nature and security and privacy features, blockchain is often chosen as the underlying technology for digital currencies, as well as for cryptocurrencies.
"The technical solution of the pilot project will be based on distributed ledger technology (DLT), often called blockchain technology," Riksbank says in a press release.
Riksbank provided a document on the e-krona pilot program. The main focus of the document is on the technical solution for the project, which has the main characteristics of cryptocurrencies.
There will be participants in the e-krona network (banks) that provide the infrastructure. The digital token called e-kronor will be distributed to the public and cannot be copied or falsified. Riksbank says it provides instant peer payments with e-kronor.
Riksbank is currently evaluating the national digital currency project, and there is no specific schedule for issuing e-krona. Nor are other technologies, development and the design process specified.
