The collaboration aims to provide offline payment capabilities for CBDCs, allowing cash-like functionality in digital form.
Crunchfish, a Swedish company specializing in digital cash solutions, has been listed on Nasdaq First North Growth Market since 2016, with headquarters in Malmö, Sweden, and a subsidiary in India.
Together, Crunchfish and TCS will target Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) projects around the world where Crunchfish will augment the Quartz solution for CBDCs with offline payments capabilities. Developed by TCS, Quartz provides foundational technology, tools, and business components for CBDCs. It harnesses the power of next-gen technologies, including DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology) and AI/ML.
Quartz enables secure integration of CBDCs with data-intensive banking operations.
Crunchfish complements Quartz by providing device-agnostic trusted client applications for offline payments. These applications can be used in both CBDCs and commercial payment systems. Offline payment availability is crucial for CBDC projects.
The combined solution enhances both the backend and frontend of CBDC implementations. It ensures resilience, scalability, and security for CBDCs. Crunchfish and TCS will collaborate to offer this solution to central banks around the world, and other entities integrating CBDCs into their business landscape.
Several companies and organizations are actively involved in the development and exploration of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs).
China's digital yuan pilot is the largest in the world, reaching 260 million wallets across 25 cities. It has been used for various purposes, including transit, healthcare, and even purchasing crude oil.
The New York Federal Reserve has launched a Digital Dollar Pilot Program in collaboration with major banks and global payments provider Swift . Participants include BNY Mellon, Citi, HSBC, Mastercard, PNC Bank, TD Bank, Truist, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo.
BRICS founding members (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) are exploring CBDCs. Several new members (Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the UAE) are also exploring cross-border wholesale CBDCs. Just a couple of month back, Iran has confirmed its collaboration with Russia on developing Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) and tokenized assets for payments.
Mastercard, PayPal, Fiserv, and Stripe have weighed in on CBDCs, with their comments publicly available for viewing on the Fed's website.
The European Central Bank is actively preparing for the launch of the digital euro, conducting practical tests and settling transactions in a controlled environment.
Notably, CBDC development involves collaboration between governments, financial institutions, and tech companies. The landscape is dynamic, with ongoing exploration and pilots worldwide.
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