The project is open to additional banks, companies, and institutions that wish to join, and it will run throughout 2026.
Crypto News
UBS, PostFinance, Sygnum, Raiffeisen, Zürcher Kantonalbank, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise, and Swiss Stablecoin AG have launched a sandbox to test use cases for a Swiss franc stablecoin in Switzerland, the latest step in the country's effort to connect its banking system to blockchain-based payment infrastructure.
Announced on Wednesday, the initiative will allow participating institutions to test selected franc stablecoin use cases in a secure digital live environment. Swiss Stablecoin AG will provide the issuance infrastructure. The project is open to additional banks, companies, and institutions that wish to join, and it will run throughout 2026.
The partners described the goal as building practical experience in handling digital payment methods across blockchain-based rails. The project marks the latest effort by major Swiss lenders to explore how blockchain-based financial applications can connect to the Swiss franc.
UBS is the largest Swiss bank by total assets at $1.7 trillion, followed by Raiffeisen Schweiz at $353 billion, Zürcher Kantonalbank at $241 billion, and PostFinance at $121 billion, according to Advratings data. The participation of institutions at this scale reflects a growing appetite for regulated digital payment infrastructure across the Swiss banking sector.
Switzerland has previously attempted a franc-pegged digital token. Bitcoin Suisse AG had issued the Swiss franc-based CryptoFranc, known as XCHF, and described it as a payment token, but announced in August 2024 that it would discontinue the stablecoin and halt both issuance and redemption.
The new consortium follows a proof-of-concept completed in September 2025 by UBS, PostFinance, and Sygnum Bank under the Swiss Bankers Association. That pilot tested legally binding interbank payments on a public blockchain, covering transactions between bank customers as well as an escrow-style exchange using tokenized real-world assets.
The Swiss Bankers Association confirmed the technical feasibility of the approach but noted that scaling such payments would require additional design work and broader participation from banks, regulators, and infrastructure providers.
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