Seven major Swiss financial institutions have announced the creation of a sandbox environment to explore potential applications for a Swiss franc stablecoin. The participants include UBS, PostFinance, Sygnum, Raiffeisen, Zürcher Kantonalbank, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise and Swiss Stablecoin AG. The initiative, announced on Wednesday, is designed to give participating institutions hands-on experience with digital payment methods in a secure, controlled digital environment.
The sandbox is scheduled to run during 2026, with Swiss Stablecoin AG responsible for providing the issuance infrastructure. The project is described as open to additional banks, companies and institutions that wish to participate. Partners characterize the effort as a way to build practical knowledge around blockchain-based financial tools connected to the Swiss franc.
The initiative represents the latest step by prominent Swiss lenders to explore how distributed ledger technology can interface with the national currency. By size, UBS is the largest Swiss bank with $1.7 trillion in total assets, followed by Raiffeisen Schweiz at $353 billion, Zürcher Kantonalbank at $241 billion and PostFinance at $121 billion, according to figures from Advratings.
This is not the first attempt to establish a Swiss franc-denominated digital asset. Bitcoin Suisse AG previously issued the CryptoFranc, also known as XCHF, which it positioned as a payment token. However, Bitcoin Suisse announced in August 2024 that it would discontinue the stablecoin, halting both issuance and redemption.
The new sandbox builds on earlier collaborative work among some of the same institutions. In September 2025, UBS, PostFinance and Sygnum completed a deposit token proof of concept under the Swiss Bankers Association, which examined legally binding interbank payments conducted on a public blockchain. That trial tested whether tokenized deposits could facilitate secure, programmable transactions while remaining compliant with Swiss financial regulations.
The proof of concept covered two specific scenarios: payments between customers of different banks, and an escrow-style exchange involving tokenized real-world assets. While the trial confirmed the technical feasibility of institutional blockchain payments, the Swiss Bankers Association noted that broader deployment would require further design adjustments and deeper cooperation with other banks, regulatory authorities and infrastructure providers.
Originally reported by CoinTelegraph.
