The recent history of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) has been marked by continuous exploration and development. Over 100 countries were actively engaged in CBDC research in June 2023,[1] with 11 countries, territories or currency unions having launched CBDCs, and 21 implementing pilot programs by October 2023.[2]

Bahamas

On 20 October 2020, the Central Bank of the Bahamas introduced the "Sand Dollar" as a digital legal currency equivalent to the traditional Bahamian dollar.[3][4][5]

Brazil

The Central Bank of Brazil was developing a digital version of the Brazilian sovereign currency, known as Drex, based on the guidelines established in May 2021, and aiming to release the CBDC by the end of 2024.[6] It received praise from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for its role in driving financial innovation and expanding digital financial services in Latin America.[7]

China

Since 2014, China's central bank has been working on a project called DCEP (Digital Currency Electronic Payment) or digital renminbi,[8] often also referred to as the "digital yuan" as it would be backed by the yuan.[9]

At the end of 2017, the China's central bank organized a number of banks and institutions to jointly develop the DCEP system. In April 2020, DCEP began to be tested in four big Chinese cities: Shenzhen, Suzhou, Xiong'an and Chengdu.[10]

The Shenzhen and Suzhou trials chose participants through a lottery, enabling them to use the DCEP in designated specific areas. The Shenzhen trial only included online payment functionalities, generally using QR codes like Alipay and WeChat Pay. However, along with online payments, the Suzhou trials also enabled the users to make near-field communication (NFC) offline payments. This feature was originally designed for people in rural areas who do not have reliable internet access.[11]

After the successful CBDC pilot, Suzhou City Municipal signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the New York-based blockchain startup, Cypherium for the company to help the city in the development of products in the city.[12][13][14][15][16]

At the end of 2021 there were 261 million users in the extended trial who had made US$13.8 billion of transactions [17] It has also been rolled out for foreign attendees at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, where it has seen limited use due to entrenched digital currencies and Visa, as well as lack of publicity.[18]

On March 31, 2022, People's Bank of China announced that the testing has been further expanded to six additional regions: Tianjin, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Xiamen, and six cities in the province of Zhejiang that are hosting the 2022 Asian Games (Hangzhou, Ningbo, Wenzhou, Huzhou, Shaoxing, and Jinhua). Another news statement from PBOC shows that the city of Beijing and Zhangjiakou are also being included on the list of testing after the 2022 Winter Olympics.[19][20]

Eastern Caribbean

The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) launched the CBDC known as "DCash" in March 2021 to Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Lucia, becoming the first CBDC to be introduced in a currency union. It subsequently rolled out the CBDC to the rest of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, including St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica, Montserrat and Anguilla.[21][22]

Ecuador

One of the earliest examples of retail CBDC was in Ecuador from 2014 to 2018, when the central bank created a broadly accessible pilot retail CBDC that operated through citizens' mobile phones (it did not employ blockchain technology) under the name "Dinero Electrónico" (DE). Even when some authors point to low citizen adoption as a main reason to its fall,[23] it reached more than 400,000 accounts and more than USD 10 million in deposits.[24] The program might have closed due to a combination of factors, including a defective implementation, the lack of procedures to preferential use in public expenditures, and mainly, commercial bank opposition.[24]

Incumbent banks perceived DE to be a threat to their payment business. The perceived threats included loss of revenue from processing payments and a potential reduction in the size of their customer base. The incumbent banks were vociferous in calling out the possibility of an evolution of DE into a sovereign currency (Asobanca n.d.), which implied a de facto de-dollarization that would bring inflation and instability to the Ecuadorian economy. This was the banks' main public criticism, as clearly stated by the BCE's general manager: "[they] wanted to mix the use of a payment system available in mobile phones with a de-dollarization process" (La Hora 2016). Ultimately, the banking sector's opposition contributed significantly to DE's demise, as admitted by the new government's BCE general manager (Artola, 2017).[24]

European Union/Eurozone

In the Eurozone, the Bank of Spain's former governor Miguel Angel Fernandez Ordoñez has called for the introduction of a digital euro, but the European Central Bank (ECB) has so far denied such possibility.[25] Nevertheless, in December 2019, the ECB stated that "The ECB will also continue to assess the costs and benefits of issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) that could ensure that the general public will remain able to use central bank money even if the use of physical cash eventually declines".[26] On 2 October 2020 the ECB nonetheless published a report on the proposed digital euro and kickstarted a two-year study phase to prepare a decision for a central bank digital currency.[27][28][29]

After completing the study phase, the ECB decided on 18 October 2023 to enter into a preparation phase for the potential issuance of a digital euro.[30]

France and Switzerland

In June 2021, the Swiss National Bank and Bank of France launched a cross-border CBDC payments trial designed for wholesale (bank-to-bank, rather than with regular consumers) transactions. Switzerland had previously tested a digital Swiss franc for instant transactions on SIX Swiss Exchange, its premier stock exchange.[31]

Ghana

India

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 16 December 2020 announced a regulatory sandbox to test next generation technologies on cross border payments to collect field test data and evidence of benefits and risks on the financial ecosystem.[32] On 29 January 2021, Government of India proposed a bill to ban trading and investments in cryptocurrencies while giving legal power to the RBI for developing CBDC.[33][34]

During the announcement of the 2022 Union budget of India, Nirmala Sitharaman from Ministry of Finance announced the roll out of the Digital Rupee from 2023.[35] As per the RBI Payments Vision 2025 document released on 17 June 2022, CBDC will be used for domestic and cross border payment processing and settlement. RBI classified CBDC into retail CBDC that will be designed to complete individual financial needs and wholesale CBDC which will be traded between RBI, Public and Private sector banks for currency distribution purpose and economic stability.[36][37]

Pilot project for digital rupee was launched on 1 November 2022.[38]

Indonesia

Bank Indonesia initiated Garuda Project, a project to develop Indonesian central bank digital currency on 30 November 2022.[39] Bank Indonesia issued the white paper on digital Rupiah development.[40] By passage of the Law on Financial Sector Development and Strengthening, digital Rupiah is legalized as form of Rupiah.[41]

Iran

2016-2018 interest in CBDCs in Iran was alleged by American analysts to be for the purposes of evading American sanctions.[31]

Jamaica

Jamaica launched its CBDC known as "Jam-Dex" in July 2022, with its central bank recognizing the Jam-Dex as a legal tender, making it the first country in the world to legalise CBDC.[42][43]

Myanmar

On 26 June 2022, Myanmar's National Unity Government (NUG) issued an official statement[44] regarding the establishment of DMMK, along with its companion mobile wallet NUGPay, although the news was announced in earlier date.[45] According to Ministry of Planning, Finance and Investment of NUG, 1 DMMK is equivalent to 1 MMK and the exchange rate will be announced on weekly basis.[46]

Nigeria

In May 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria announced that Nigeria would create a digital currency.[47] In July 2021 it further said that it will launch the pilot scheme on 1 October 2021.[48] Following these announcements, the central bank named Bitt Inc. in August 2021 as its technical partner for Nigeria's digital currency that would be known as ENaira.[49]

New Zealand

In September 2021, public consultation on a CBDC for New Zealand was opened by the Reserve Bank.[50] The potential digital currency would be tied 1:1 to the New Zealand dollar.[51]

Norway

In April 2021, after four years of research, Norway's Norges Bank announced plans to start testing technical solutions for a CBDC over the following two years.[31]

Russia

In October 2020, the Central Bank of Russia published a consultation paper on a digital ruble. It aims to have a prototype ready by the end of 2021 and start pilots and trials in 2022.[31]

Singapore

On June 21, 2023, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) published a whitepaper proposing a common protocol to specify conditions for the use of digital money including CBDCs on a distributed ledger. The whitepaper was developed in collaboration with the International Monetary Fund, Bank of Italy, Bank of Korea, financial institutions and fintech firms.[52]

Sweden

The central bank of Sweden proposed an "e-krona" in November 2016,[53] and started testing an e-krona proof of concept in 2020.[54][55][56] The 2020 phase focused on internal simulations within Sweden's central bank; the 2021 second phase is to include transactions with outside entities, such as commercial banks.[31] The 2022 third phase focused on the requirements.[57]

Turkey

In January 2021, the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) announced a planned digital currency trial in the second half of 2021.[31]

The CBRT successfully tested the first payment transaction using the digital lira in January 2023, and planned to run further phases of pilot studies to widen participation in 2023.[58]

Ukraine

In December 2018, the National Bank of Ukraine piloted a digital currency, the e-hryvnia, with about 5,500 tokens. It is considering how to technically advance a nationwide launch.[31]

United Kingdom

The Bank of England discussed a blockchain-based central bank currency in a September 2015 speech by chief economist Andrew G. Haldane, on possible ways to implement negative interest rates.[59] A March 2016 speech by Ben Broadbent, the bank's deputy governor of monetary policy, appears to be the first use of the phrase "central bank digital currency", and notes direct inspiration by Bitcoin.[60][61] In April 2021, the Bank of England and HM Treasury announced a joint CBDC Taskforce to examine the possibility of a CBDC in the UK.[31]

United States

In May 2021, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell announced plans to publish a discussion paper on central bank digital currency, focusing on the possibility of issuing a US CBDC. Powell believed that a potential CBDC would complement the use of cash and bank deposits rather than replacing them.[62] In February 2022 the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston released initial details of Project Hamilton, a potential United States CBDC. While incorporating some of the architecture of bitcoin, it would not be decentralized nor have mining.[63]

Also in May 2021, the Digital Dollar Project, which is not affiliated with the United States government, planned to launch five pilot programmes, testing the potential use of a central bank digital currency in the United States of America.[64]

On March 9, 2022, President Joe Biden signed an executive order on ensuring responsible development of digital assets, the White House said.[65]

On November 15, 2022, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Innovation Center (NYIC) announced a 12 week proof-of-concept pilot program. The pilot will build a prototype and test a theoretical network known as the regulated liability network (RLN). The network will aim to provide a "... multi-asset, always-on, programmable infrastructure containing digital representations of central bank, commercial bank, and regulated non-bank issuer liabilities, denominated in U.S. dollars."[66] The pilot project will be conducted in a test environment and will only use "simulated data" with a version of the RLN that operates exclusively in U.S. dollars. Commercial banks will issue simulated digital money as fungible tokens that will represent customer deposits, and settle through simulated central bank reserves via a distributed multi-entity ledger.[67]

Several major U.S. banks are participating in the pilot, including BNY Mellon, Citi, HSBC, Mastercard, PNC Bank, TD Bank, Truist, U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo. Swift will support international interoperability.[66]

Uruguay

In November 2017, the central bank of Uruguay announced to begin a test to issue digital Uruguayan pesos.[68][69]

References

  1. ↑ "Central Bank Digital Currency Global Interoperability Principles". World Economic Forum. Retrieved 2023-10-11.
  2. ↑ "Central Bank Digital Currency Tracker". Atlantic Council. Retrieved 2023-10-11.
  3. ↑ "Sand Dollar". Retrieved 2021-01-28.
  4. ↑ "Public Update on the Bahamas Digital Currency Rollout". Central Bank of the Bahamas. 2020-12-31. Retrieved 2021-01-28.
  5. ↑ Alex; Zaitchik, er; Kim, Jeanhee; Le, Kelly; EDT, Angie Lau On 6/29/21 at 5:00 AM (2021-06-29). "China's digital yuan, launching in 2022, poses threat to global dominance of U.S. dollar". Newsweek. Retrieved 2021-06-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ↑ "Banco Central do Brasil". www.bcb.gov.br. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  7. ↑ Feliba, David (2023-08-17). "IMF praises Digital Real, Brazil's CBDC expected for 2024". News. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  8. ↑ Yang, Yuan; Lockett, Hudson (25 November 2019). "What is China's digital currency plan?". Financial Times.
  9. ↑ Pladson, Kristie (10 May 2020). "China leads in race for digital currency". Deutsche Welle. Archived from the original on 16 June 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  10. ↑ "央行：数字人民币正在四地内测". Xinhua Net (in Chinese (China)). Archived from the original on 2020-08-19. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
  11. ↑ Chorzempa, Martin (2021). "China, the United States, and Central Bank Digital Currencies: How Important Is It to Be First?". SSRN 3765709.
  12. ↑ Zhou, Cissy (2020-12-06). "Chinese city to hand out 20 million yuan in latest digital yuan trial". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
  13. ↑ Clarke, Gina (2020-08-07). "How Suzhou is Taking Steps to Become China's Leading Blockchain District". The Fintech Times. Archived from the original on 16 May 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  14. ↑ CBNEditor (2020-08-03). "Cypherium Signs MOU with Suzhou for Blockchain Infrastructure Development Following Launch of Chinese CBDC Trials". China Banking News. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
  15. ↑ "China's Digital Yuan Status: Tracking its Roll-Out, Impact for Businesses". China Briefing News. 2020-12-07. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
  16. ↑ Kharpal, Arjun (2020-12-07). "China hands out $3 million of digital yuan as JD.com becomes first online platform to accept it". CNBC. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
  17. ↑ Feng, Coco (19 January 2022). "China's digital currency: e-CNY wallet nearly doubles user base in two months to 261 million ahead of Winter Olympics". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  18. ↑ "China Rolls Out Digital Yuan for Foreigners at the Olympics". WSJ.
  19. ↑ "数字人民币试点迎来第三次扩围，催生哪些新的投资机会?". 3 April 2022.
  20. ↑ "中国央行：新增天津、重庆、广州等地作为数字人民币试点地区".
  21. ↑ Bank, Eastern Caribbean Central. "D-Cash - Eastern Caribbean Central Bank". www.eccb-centralbank.org. Retrieved 2023-10-11.
  22. ↑ "Caribbean Central Bank Completes Roll Out of Pioneering E-Money". news.bloomberglaw.com. Retrieved 2023-10-11.
  23. ↑ White, Lawrence H. "The World's First Central Bank Electronic Money Has Come – And Gone: Ecuador, 2014–2018". Cato Institute. Archived from the original on 5 February 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  24. 1 2 3 Arauz, Andrés; Garratt, Rodney; Ramos F., Diego F. (2021-06-01). "Dinero Electrónico: The rise and fall of Ecuador's central bank digital currency". Latin American Journal of Central Banking. 2 (2): 100030. doi:10.1016/j.latcb.2021.100030. ISSN 2666-1438.
  25. ↑ "ECB rejects implementation of "digital euro" for wrong reasons". Positive Money Europe. 2018-09-28. Retrieved 2018-09-28.
  26. ↑ "Innovation and its impact on the European retail payment landscape" (PDF). European Central Bank. December 2019.
  27. ↑ Report on a digital euro (PDF) (Report). European Central Bank. October 2020. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  28. ↑ Smith-Meyer, Bjarke (October 2, 2020). "European Central Bank eyes digital euro, begins online experiments". POLITICO. Archived from the original on March 1, 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  29. ↑ Panetta, Fabio (2 October 2020). "We must be prepared to issue a digital euro". The ECB Blog. European Central Bank. Archived from the original on 23 January 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  30. ↑ Bank, European Central (2023-10-18). "Eurosystem proceeds to next phase of digital euro project". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  31. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Marc Labonte; Rebecca M. Nelson (July 21, 2021). Central Bank Digital Currencies: Policy Issues (Report). Congressional Research Service. Retrieved July 22, 2021.
  32. ↑ "Regulatory Sandbox: RBI seeks applications under second cohort". Business Standard India. 2020-12-16. Retrieved 2021-08-07.
  33. ↑ "Lok Sabha: General Information relating to Parliamentary and other matters" (PDF). Parliament of India. 29 January 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  34. ↑ "BIS Innovation Hub and Monetary Authority of Singapore publish proposal for enhancing global real-time retail payments network connectivity". 2021-07-28. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  35. ↑ Bose, Shritama (2 February 2022). "Budget 2022: Digital rupee from FY23". Financial Express. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  36. ↑ Sarkar, Gargi (2022-06-23). "India's CBDC Set To Take Off: From Cross-Border Payments To Subsidies — Here Are The Use Cases On The Table". Inc42 Media. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  37. ↑ "Payments Vision 2025" (PDF). Reserve Bank of India. 17 June 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  38. ↑ "India cenbank to start pilot of digital rupee on Nov 1". Reuters. 2022-10-31. Retrieved 2022-11-03.
  39. ↑ Rachman, Arrijal. "BI Luncurkan Proyek Garuda Rupiah Digital di Depan Jokowi". CNBC Indonesia (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2022-12-17.
  40. ↑ "Proyek Garuda: Menavigasi Arsitektur Digital Rupiah". www.bi.go.id. Retrieved 2022-12-17.
  41. ↑ Suryani, Bhekti. "Omnibus Law Keuangan Hari Ini Disahkan, Indonesia Kini Punya Uang Rupiah Digital". Harianjogja.com. Retrieved 2022-12-17.
  42. ↑ "Jamaica Launches "Jam-Dex", Becomes First Nation To Legalise Digital Currency".
  43. ↑ Muir, Martha (2023-07-20). "Jamaica, we have a CBDC". Financial Times. Retrieved 2023-10-11.
  44. ↑ "Notification on Establishment of the Digital Myanmar Kyat (DMMK) and NUGPay Mobile Wallet". Ministry of Planning, Finance and Investment Official Facebook Page.
  45. ↑ Wong, May. "NUG Myanmar launched its own payment system". Channel News Asia. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  46. ↑ "Welcome!!! Digital Myanmar Kyat". 30 June 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  47. ↑ Oladeinde Olawoyin (26 May 2021). "Nigeria will soon create digital currency — CBN". Premium Times. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  48. ↑ Temitayo Jaiyeola (22 July 2021). "CBN to launch digital currency Oct 1". The Punch. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  49. ↑ "CBN e-Naira: Central Bank of Nigeria ask Bitt Inc for digital currency - How eNaira go be". BBC News Pidgin. 31 August 2021. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  50. ↑ "Reserve Bank consults on the future of money" (Press release). Reserve Bank of New Zealand. 2021-09-30. Retrieved 2021-10-01.
  51. ↑ Stock, Rob (2021-09-30). "Reserve Bank digital dollars could help defend New Zealand dollar". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 2021-10-01.
  52. ↑ "MAS Proposes Standards for Digital Money".
  53. ↑ Aleksi Grym; P. Heikkinen; K. Kauko; K. Takala (2021). "Central bank digital currency" (PDF). doi:10.1596/36765. hdl:10419/212990. S2CID 158600162. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-02-25. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  54. ↑ "Sweden's Riksbank eyes digital currency". Financial Times. 15 November 2016. Retrieved 2017-11-09.
  55. ↑ Riksbanken. "The E-krona project – First interim report". www.riksbank.se. Archived from the original on November 1, 2017. Retrieved 2017-11-10.
  56. ↑ Riksbank. "The Riksbank to test technical solution for the e-krona". www.riksbank.se. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  57. ↑ "Riksbankens e-kronaprojekt går in i nästa fas". www.riksbank.se (in Swedish).
  58. ↑ Bleach, Tom (2023-01-03). "Central Bank of Turkey Successfully Tests Payment Transactions Using Digital Lira". The Fintech Times. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  59. ↑ Haldane, Andy (18 September 2015). How low can you go? (Speech). Portadown Chamber of Commerce, Northern Ireland: Bank of England. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  60. ↑ Broadbent, Ben (2 March 2016). Central banks and digital currencies (Speech). London School of Economics: Bank of England. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  61. ↑ Bjerg, Ole (2017-06-13). "Designing New Money - The Policy Trilemma of Central Bank Digital Currency". Rochester, NY. SSRN 2985381. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  62. ↑ Powell, Jerome (20 May 2021). "Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell outlines the Federal Reserve's response to technological advances driving rapid change in the global payments landscape" (Press release). Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  63. ↑ "Project Hamilton Phase 1 Executive Summary". 3 February 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  64. ↑ Price, Michelle (2021-05-03). "Digital Dollar Project to launch five U.S. central bank digital currency pilots". Reuters. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  65. ↑ "FACT SHEET: President Biden to Sign Executive Order on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets". The White House. 9 March 2022.
  66. 1 2 "Facilitating Wholesale Digital Asset Settlement". Federal Reserve Bank of New York. November 15, 2022. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  67. ↑ "Members of the U.S. Banking Community Launch Proof of Concept For A Regulated Digital Asset Settlement Platform". Business Wire. November 15, 2022. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  68. ↑ Uruguayan central bank to test digital currency - Agencia EFE, 20 September 2017
  69. ↑ El BCU presentó un plan piloto para la emisión de billetes digitales Archived 2020-10-23 at the Wayback Machine - Central Bank of Uruguay, 3 November 2017
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