The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has collaborated with central banks in Israel, Norway, and Sweden to carry out a pilot study on cross-border payments using central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). The pilot study, known as Project Icebreaker, aimed to examine the technical feasibility of cross-border transfers involving distinct CBDCs and analyze key technical and policy choices. The results of the project, documented in a report by the BIS, demonstrated that central banks can maintain autonomy while still ensuring their CBDCs are interoperable across borders. The project also showed that cross-border transactions using multiple CBDCs could be completed in seconds, in contrast to the several-day-long transfer times commonly seen with the SWIFT system. Additionally, the study found that a new CBDC system could reduce costs and lower settlement and counterparty risks for users, assuming that the retail CBDC system is operational 24/7. The BIS, often referred to as the “central bank of central banks,” headed the study and is based in Basel, Switzerland.
