UBS, Sygnum, and seven other Swiss financial firms have begun testing a CHF stablecoin called CHFD in a controlled sandbox environment, with payment infrastructure operators SIX and TWINT now joining the initiative.
The nine participants are exploring three use cases: automated transaction settlement, tokenized asset settlement, and programmable payments. The testing period runs through the end of 2026. Neither UBS nor the other participants have announced a commercial launch date or plan to move beyond the sandbox.
CHFD is designed to operate on blockchain infrastructure while maintaining a one-to-one peg with the Swiss franc. The sandbox is being conducted under Swiss financial oversight, though regulators have not yet published guidance specific to domestic stablecoin issuance. Switzerland's Federal Office of Justice stated in 2024 that tokenized assets would require updates to banking and payment system law, but no legislation has been proposed.
SIX operates Switzerland's primary stock exchange and payment clearing system, while TWINT is a mobile payments app with more than 3 million active users in the country. UBS did not disclose the names of the other six participants.
Stablecoin adoption in Europe remains fragmented. The European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) established licensing and reserve requirements for euro stablecoins and other assets, taking effect in December 2024. Switzerland is not an EU member and has not adopted equivalent rules, leaving Swiss-issued stablecoins in regulatory ambiguity for cross-border use. Several central banks have explored digital currency prototypes but none have launched retail or wholesale CBDCs.
UBS and Sygnum have both previously supported blockchain infrastructure in Switzerland. Sygnum received its banking license in 2021 and operates a cryptocurrency trading and custody platform. UBS began offering cryptocurrency services to wealth management clients in 2023 after acquiring the digital assets unit of Incore Bank.
The test involves nine firms, each carrying one-ninth of the participants, which means UBS and Sygnum control roughly 22 percent of the named stakes if participation is weighted equally. The sandbox runs for 16 months, and no participant has disclosed success criteria that would trigger a decision to seek regulatory approval for commercial deployment.
Central banks in France, Germany, and Switzerland have co-published technical standards for cross-border digital asset transfers. If CHFD shows measurable efficiency gains in the three use cases by mid-2026, UBS may seek regulatory guidance on a transition to live deployment.
