Exploring wholesale digital payments: Clearstream at the ECB trials

In 2024, the ECB invited market participants to explore how new technologies like DLT would work for central bank money settlement. The so-called ECB trials and experiments are aimed at exploring the potential of digital payments targeting a wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency (wCBDC) and are conducted from May to November 2024. Various trials (productive transactions with real securities and money) and experiments (in a closed mock environment) are carried out.

Clearstream as market DLT operator

Together with leading institutions, infrastructures and fintech businesses, Clearstream contributes to this transformative endeavour as market Market DLT Operator with its leading digital post-trade platform D7 and all three of its central securities depositories (CSDs), covering the domestic markets in Germany and Luxembourg as well as the international market with its ICSD.

D7 – the digital securities platform

To optimally support the goal of the exploration, Clearstream has enhanced its digital post-trade platform D7 with respective DLT capabilities. This was done in collaboration with Google Cloud, leveraging the strategic partnership of Deutsche Börse Group and Google Cloud. Clearstream’s D7 has a proven track record with over 250,000 digital securities issuances, more than any other digital post-trade solution worldwide.

Calling for a transitory solution after the ECB trials

The ECB trials have been very successful so far and the experience gathered has been invaluable. Clearstream calls for a frictionless lead-over of the proven trial infrastructure into a transitory solution beyond November 2024. This would serve as the nucleus for developing a stable long-term solution to advance a competitive digital financial ecosystem in Europe.

Get to know the use cases Clearstream’s D7 already processed successfully!

Conducted use cases to date

8 November 2024

Instrument

Participants (role)

Central bank system

Trial or experiment

Volume

Commercial Paper

  • Intesa Sanpaolo (Issuer/Investor)
  • Clearstream/D7 (Market DLT Operator)
Banca d’Italia

Trial

€10 m

25 October 2024

Instrument

Participants (role)

Central bank system

Trial or experiment

Volume

Commercial Paper

  • L-Bank (Issuer)
  • NatWest (Investor)
  • Clearstream/D7 (Market DLT Operator) 

Bundesbank

Trial

€50 m

23 October 2024

Instrument

Participants (role)

Central bank system

Trial or experiment

Volume

Set of cleared Repos

  • ABN AMRO Bank (Collateral taker/cash provider) 
  • ABN AMRO Clearing (Collateral provider/cash taker) 
  • Rabobank (Collateral provider/cash taker) 
  • Clearstream/D7 (Market DLT Operator) 
  • Eurex Clearing (CCP) 
  • Eurex Repo (trading platform) 

Banque de France

Trial

€1.65 m

4 October 2024

Instrument

Participants (role)

Central bank system

Trial or experiment

Volume

Commercial Paper (Eurobond)

  • ABN AMRO Bank (Issuer)
  • Rabobank (Investor)
  • ABN AMRO Clearing (Investor)
  • Clearstream/D7 (Market DLT Operator)

Banque de France

Trial

€1.1 m

12 September 2024

Instrument

Participants (role)

Central bank system

Trial or experiment

Volume

Intraday-Repo

  • JP Morgan (Buyer)
  • DZ Bank (Seller)
  • Eurex Clearing AG (CCP) 
  • Eurex Repo (Trading system)
  • Clearstream/D7 (Market DLT Operator)

Bundesbank

Experiment

€5.1 m

11 September 2024

Instrument

Participants (role)

Central bank system

Trial or experiment

Volume

Commercial Paper

  • Saxony-Anhalt (Issuer) 
  • NatWest (dealer)
  • Deka Bank (Investor)
  • Clearstream/D7 (Market DLT Operator)

Bundesbank

Trial

€50 m

1 July 2024

Instrument

Participants (role)

Central bank system

Trial or experiment

Volume

Commercial Paper

  • DZ Bank (Issuer) 
  • Deka Bank (Investor)
  • Clearstream/D7 (Market DLT Operator)

Bundesbank

Trial

€5 m

28 June 2024

Instrument

Participants (role)

Central bank system

Trial or experiment

Volume

Commercial Paper

  • Deka (Issuer)
  • DZ Bank (Investor)
  • Clearstream/D7 (Market DLT Operator)

Bundesbank

Trial

€5 m