Ethereum studio ConsenSys to work with SocGen on digital euro experiments

Ethereum development studio ConsenSys has been selected by Societe Generale's blockchain unit Forge to assist in digital euro experiments.

Announcing the news on Wednesday, ConsenSys said it would provide technical expertise to Forge, mainly focusing on central bank digital currency (CBDC) "issuance and management, delivery versus payment, and cross-ledger interoperability."

Forge has been working with the central bank of France on testing the digital euro. In May, both parties ran an experiment that saw the issuance of bonds as security tokens and its settlement in digital euros. The transaction was worth about $44 million. 

France's central bank is currently also experimenting with a wholesale CBDC, along with Forge and some other financial institutions, including HSBC and SEBA Bank. The central bank is also open to exploring a retail digital euro, its governor François Villeroy de Galhau said recently.

ConsenSys, on its part, is expanding its efforts in the CBDC space. Ken Timsit, global head of enterprise solutions at ConsenSys, said the studio has so far assisted six central banks on CBDC projects. Just last month, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority also awarded a CBDC study project to ConsenSys.

About Author

Yogita Khatri is a senior reporter at The Block and the author of The Funding newsletter. As our longest-serving editorial member, Yogita has been instrumental in breaking numerous stories, exclusives and scoops. With over 3,000 articles to her name, Yogita is The Block's most-published and most-read author of all time. Before joining The Block, Yogita wrote for CoinDesk and The Economic Times. You can reach her at [email protected] or follow her latest updates on X at @Yogita_Khatri5.