Share this article
France's Central Bank Details its First Blockchain Test
France’s central bank quietly released new details about its work with blockchain last week.
By Stan Higgins
Updated Sep 11, 2021, 12:45 p.m. Published Dec 19, 2016, 2:32 p.m.
France’s central bank quietly released new details about its work with blockchain last week.
The Banque de France said on Friday that it had tested the tech for hypothetical use in the management of SEPA Credit Identifiers, or identification markers used to establish the identity of creditors within the Single Euro Payments Area. The trial marks its first publicly acknowledged blockchain trial.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
According to the central bank, one of the key participants in the trial was the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, a public-sector organization that acts as a kind of investor on behalf of the French government through a number of subsidiaries. Paris-based startup Labo Blockchain and several unnamed French banks also took part in the test.
Work began in July, the Banque de France said, culminating in October with the creation of prototype tools for creating and managing SEPA Credit Identifiers. The central bank outlined how weekly meetings were held with stakeholders as the project moved forward, going on to indicate that more detailed insights into the project would be released sometime next year.
Word of the trial comes months after the central bank called for more research into the subject, arguing at the time that any testing should focus on both the positive and negative impacts the technology could hold for the finance sector.
The Banque de France evoked this sentiment in its announcement, noting in a translated statement:
“This experience allows all the participating banks to share their analyzes on [the] impacts and opportunities of this technology.”
With the trial, the French central bank becomes the latest institution of its kind to test the technology.
In the past year, central banks in Japan, Sweden and Singapore, among others, have launched similar efforts, with the European Central Bank announcing a new research undertaking in partnership with the Bank of Japan on 6th December. Earlier this month, the US Federal Reserve released its first major research paper on blockchain.
Image via Shutterstock
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
These Three Metrics Show Bitcoin Found Strong Support Near $80,000
Onchain data shows multiple cost basis metrics confirm heavy demand and investor conviction around the $80,000 price level.
What to know:
- Bitcoin rebounded from the $80,000 region after a sharp correction from its October all time high, with price holding above the average entry levels of key metrics.
- The convergence of the True Market Mean, U.S. ETF cost basis, and the 2024 yearly cost basis around the low $80,000 range highlights this zone as a major area of structural support.
Top Stories
