Bank of Israel on project icebreaker

The central banks of Israel, Norway and Sweden are launching Project Icebreaker, a joint experiment with the Bank for International Settlements that looks into how central bank digital currencies can be used to enable immediate international retail and remittance payments. The project, which will run until the end of the year, sees participants connect their domestic proof-of-concept systems to test interoperability, alongside design and policy choices, to implement cross-border functionalities.

Yoav Soffer, adviser to the deputy governor at the Bank of Israel, joins OMFIF to discuss the important decisions central banks face in using cross-border CBDCs. He explores how the bank is engaging with international payments landscapes and learnings from the project, key challenges under existing funds transfer systems and how Israel is approaching digital currencies.

Timings: 
14:00 – 15:00 (London)
09:00 – 10:00 (New York)
22:00 – 23:00 (Singapore)
16:00 – 17:00 (Israel)

Speaker: 

This discussion is part of the OMFIF Digital Monetary Institute. The OMFIF Digital Monetary Institute is a high-level forum which convenes key policy-makers, technology experts, investors and regulators to explore the challenges, opportunities and implications of digital finance in the 2020s. See more information on OMFIF’s DMI here. Please contact folusho.olutosin@omfif.org directly for membership details or register your interest below and we’ll be in touch.