Benoit Cœuré will become a hew head of BIS Innovation Hub.

•  Benoit CÅ“uré to head a digital currency initiative of BIS  
• The global central banks coordinate their efforts to create an alternative to private digital money.

The Bank of International Settlements has chosen Benoît CÅ“uré to lead the new initiative focused on creating public alternatives to privately-issued digital currencies.  

Currently, Mr. Cœuré is a member of the governing council in the European Central Bank, where he was responsible for oversight of payments systems. His term at the European central bank expires on December 31.

The Basel-based BIS will unveil its Innovation Hub initiative aimed at developing monetary and payment innovations.  

Mr Cœuré will work on a central bank digital currency together with the Swiss National Bank. The coin based on distributed ledger technology (DLT) will be used for wholesale transactions between banks.

On a larger scale, the initiative will allow the global central banks to pool their resources and stop the potentially dangerous spread of private money.

“We’re not just here to make money, we’re here to make sure we serve the public interest, a global public interest. It’s a role that needs to be done. And it’s the right moment because we’re on the cusp of a huge leap,” Hyun Song Shin said. He works as BIS economic adviser and acting head of the Innovation Hub.

Facebook’s Libra project announced earlier this year, raised concerns month global authorities. Regulators and governments alike believe that the introduction of a wide-spread private money may disrupt the financial system and pose risks of money laundering.

This development forced the central banks to join forces and create an alternative solution.

“From 2017 on, developments have been very fast. The hype about bitcoin brought to the fore a lot of forces in the market and society,” Agustín Carstens general manager of the BIS commented.