The financial sandbox initiative of the Bank of Spain, or Banco de España, has reportedly approved a project from fintech firm Monei testing a token linked to the euro.
The Bank of Spain gave the green light to Monei to issue its EURM token as part of a testing phase expected to last between six to 12 months. The sandbox was aimed at establishing a controlled testing environment for financial innovation projects in Spain under the supervision of central bank authorities.
As part of EURM’s testing phase, eligible Spanish residents with a phone number will reportedly be able to send the equivalent of 10 euro using the digital asset. The digital tokens will reportedly be backed 1:1 with physical euros held at Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria and Caixabank.
The Bank of Spain announced the launch of its own exclusive wholesale central bank digital currency program in December. Though Monei’s project is not a CBDC issued by the European Central Bank.Spain’s central bank could lay the groundwork for such a token.
