Societe Generale said it has executed a blockchain-based repurchase agreement with the Banque de France in what it called the first such tokenized transaction with a eurozone central bank.
The lender’s digital asset-focused subsidiary SG-Forge has deposited as collateral a number of bonds issued in 2020 on the public Ethereum blockchain in exchange for central bank digital currency (CBDC) issued by the Banque de France on its DL3S blockchain, it said in a press release.
With the European Union’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulatory framework already in place for stablecoin issuers, SG-Forge has maintained a prominent role in exploring ways to deploy its euro stablecoin, EUR CoinVertible (EURCV). The token was not involved in the repo transaction.
The Banque de France, meanwhile, has been energetically testing the feasibility of wholesale CBDCs to improve issues such as cross-border payments and settlement finality. Broadly speaking, blockchain-based repo transactions have proven to be one of the most attractive applications of the technology among banks.
“This transaction demonstrates the technical feasibility of interbank refinancing transactions directly on blockchain. It illustrates the potential of a central bank digital currency to improve the liquidity of digital financial securities,” SocGen said in a press release.