Skip to main content

81 Countries Are Now Exploring Central Bank Digital Currencies — 5 CBDCs Fully Launched

81 Countries Are Now Exploring Central Bank Digital Currencies — 5 CBDCs Fully Launched

Eighty-one countries are now exploring central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), according to a new tracker. This number is 46 more countries than the number in May last year. In addition, five countries have fully launched their own digital currencies.

81 Central Banks Explore Launching Own Digital Currencies

The Atlantic Council’s Geoeconomics Center unveiled a new central bank digital currency (CBDC) tracker featuring an interactive database last week.

The Geoeconomics Center described itself as “a nonpartisan organization that galvanizes U.S. leadership and engagement in the world, in partnership with allies and partners, to shape solutions to global challenges,” its website states.

The original version of the CBDC tracker, launched in April last year, has been used by the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of International Settlements (BIS), the center claims, adding that according to the new tracker:

81 countries (representing over 90 percent of global GDP) are now exploring a CBDC. In our original report published in May 2020, only 35 countries were considering a CBDC.

The center noted that “Of the countries with the 4 largest central banks (the U.S. Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan, and the Bank of England), the United States is furthest behind” in developing a state-backed digital currency.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said in February that the digital dollar was a “very high priority” for the Fed. However, he emphasized the need to “get it right,” instead of rushing to launch a digital dollar, particularly to compete with China’s digital yuan. Nonetheless, the chairman recently said, “you wouldn’t need stablecoins, you wouldn’t need cryptocurrencies if you had a digital U.S. currency. I think that’s one of the stronger arguments in its favor.”

Meanwhile, “5 countries have now fully launched a digital currency,” the Geoeconomics Center added. They are the Bahamas, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Lucia, and Grenada.

World map of central bank digital currencies. Source: Atlantic Council’s Geoeconomics Center.

The center further detailed that “14 other countries, including major economies like Sweden and South Korea, are now in the pilot stage with their CBDCs and preparing a possible full launch.”

Josh Lipsky, Director of the Geoeconomics Center and former senior advisor at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), commented:

Before Covid, central bank digital currencies were largely a theoretical exercise. But with the need to distribute unprecedented monetary and fiscal stimulus around the world, combined with the rise of cryptocurrencies, central banks have quickly realized they cannot let the evolution of money pass them by.

What do you think about 81 central banks exploring their own digital currencies? Let us know in the comments section below.



from Bitcoin News https://ift.tt/3iPB50J
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mt Gox Creditors Updated, Trustee Says Rehabilitation Custodian Is ‘Currently Preparing to Make Repayments’

On August 31, 2022, the Mt Gox trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi explained in a recent letter that the rehabilitation custodian is “currently preparing to make repayments” to Mt Gox creditors. Trustee Updates Mt Gox Creditors — Repayment Date and Exchange Still Unknown Last week speculation and rumors concerning the release of 140K bitcoin ( BTC ) from Mt Gox littered social media platforms and headlines. Bitcoin.com News covered the situation six days ago as a number of people and Mt Gox creditors called the rumors “ fake news .” During that same period of time, a bitcoin whale transferred 10,000 BTC to unknown wallets, and a 2018 annotation , heuristics, and clustering methods show the funds likely originated from the June 2011 Mt Gox hacks. Following the mysterious whale transfer, last Wednesday, Mt Gox published an official update from the court trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi that explains the court is “currently preparing to make repayments” to creditors. Mt Gox creditors have been wait...
Post a Comment
Read more

Economists Discuss Russia, China Potentially Developing Gold-Backed Currency That Could Undermine US Dollar

Economists have weighed in on reports that China and Russia may be developing a new gold-backed currency that could undermine the U.S. dollar’s status as the world’s primary reserve currency. Russia and China May Be Developing Gold-Backed Currency Several experts have shared their views on Russia and China potentially creating a new gold-baked currency, Fox Business reported Saturday, emphasizing that China has been buying up huge quantities of gold while Russia was forced off the U.S. dollar due to sanctions imposed on the country following its invasion of Ukraine. The news outlet noted that some experts have cautioned that these moves, along with the closer relationship that has developed between Moscow and Beijing, point to the likelihood of China attempting to launch a gold-backed currency. However, neither Russia nor China has officially confirmed plans for such a currency. Craig Singleton, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a former U.S. diplomat,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Fidelity Discusses Bitcoin as Portfolio Insurance — Could Soon Stand in ‘Stark Contrast’ to Path Fiat Currencies Take

Fidelity Digital Assets, a subsidiary of Fidelity Investments, says that bitcoin could be considered portfolio insurance. The firm notes that the cryptocurrency “may soon stand in stark contrast to the path that the rest of the world and fiat currencies may take — namely the path of increased supply, additional currency creation, and central bank balance sheet expansion.” Fidelity Says Bitcoin Could Be Portfolio Insurance Fidelity Digital Assets, a subsidiary of Fidelity Investments, recently published a research study titled “The Rising Dollar and Bitcoin.” The research outlines “how bitcoin could be considered portfolio insurance” as the rising dollar impacts global currency markets. “The strengthening U.S. dollar is wreaking havoc among other countries and may put pressure on the Federal Reserve to soon reverse its tightening monetary actions, something that has precedent based on 1985’s Plaza Accord,” Fidelity explained. In addition, “more monetary debasement may be needed to ...
Post a Comment
Read more