2023-03-16-国际清算银行-项目破冰者_打破跨境零售CBDC支付的新路径（英）_42页_857kb

Project Icebreaker is an experimental collaboration between the Bank of Israel, Norges Bank, Sveriges Riksbank, and the BIS Innovation Hub aimed at exploring the feasibility of cross-border retail central bank digital currency (rCBDC) payments. The report investigates how different rCBDC systems can interoperate to facilitate instant, low-cost, and secure cross-border transactions, addressing challenges like high costs, slow speeds, and counterparty risks in existing payment systems.

The core model uses a hub-and-spoke architecture, where the Icebreaker hub routes messages and matches payers with foreign exchange (FX) providers offering competitive rates. Key technical features include Hash Time Locked Contracts (HTLC) for coordinated settlement, ensuring atomic execution of payment pairs and minimizing settlement risk. The experiment validates that rCBDC payments can be completed in seconds using near real-time domestic systems operating 24/7/365.

Benefits include reduced counterparty risk, increased transparency and competition in FX, lower costs, and scalability. Minimum requirements for rCBDC systems include support for HTLC, real-time operation, and availability of FX providers. The project highlights policy considerations such as governance, resilience, liquidity management, privacy, and regulatory alignment. Recommendations suggest that central banks incorporate conditional settlement techniques, ensure system availability, and promote standardized communication for cross-border functionality.

Overall, Project Icebreaker demonstrates a viable pathway for enabling cross-border rCBDC payments with minimal changes to national systems, fostering innovation in global payments while identifying key trade-offs and requirements for implementation.