Sweden’s CBDC Trail: Corda Pilot Execution + Hedera/Algorand Used as Real-World Reference Protocols
🇸🇪 Sweden’s e-krona: what was tested in the pilot and where do @hedera & @AlgoFoundation show up in Riksbank research? A fact-based breakdown 👇
Sweden has seen a long-term decline in cash usage. Since 2017, the Riksbank has explored whether a digital complement to cash (“e-krona”) could be needed.
In 2019, the Riksbank initiated a technical pilot. In Feb 2020, it moved into a more practical stage together with Accenture.
Accenture (partner in the pilot) is a global consulting & technology services firm that builds large-scale systems for banks, governments, and enterprise infrastructure.
Pilot tech stack: the test network was built on a DLT/token-based platform called R3 Corda (the e-krona represented as tokens in the pilot environment).
R3 Corda is an enterprise/permissioned DLT designed for regulated settings: controlled participants, strong privacy/security choices, and integration-friendly architecture.
The pilot’s purpose wasn’t production-ready launch — it was to learn: integrations with participants, offline concepts, POS/payment flows, and performance constraints.
In 2023, the Riksbank concluded the pilot phase and shifted focus toward design questions for an issuable e-krona + legal framework discussions.
Now the interesting part for Hedera/Algorand: a Riksbank Working Paper (No. 437, June 2024) models the potential climate/energy impact of different retail CBDC designs.
For the semi-centralized model, the paper uses Hedera as the reference protocol for electricity-per-transaction assumptions: 0.00002–0.00004 kWh/tx.
For the decentralized model, the paper uses Algorand as the reference protocol: 0.00017–0.00534 kWh/tx (range depends on throughput/nodes).
Takeaway: Sweden’s e-krona work combines (1) a real enterprise-style pilot (Accenture + Corda) with (2) rigorous research comparing architecture choices — using Hedera & Algorand as concrete benchmarks.
👉🏻 Riksbank e-krona pilot – Phase 2 (PDF):
riksbank.se/globalassets/m…
Riksbank e-krona pilot – Phase 3 (PDF):
riksbank.se/globalassets/m…
Riksbank Working Paper No. 437 (June 2024) – climate/energy impact, Hedera & Algorand benchmarks (PDF):
riksbank.se/globalassets/m…
Riksbank e-krona overview page (project ended 2023):
riksbank.se/en-gb/payments…
