CBDC Financial News

Half a year after the military junta in Myanmar revealed its plans to launch a digital currency, the country’s government, ousted in a coup in 2021, voices its own intention to launch one using frozen national funds. 

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is in talks with fintech companies and state-controlled banks about a trial run of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), local publication Moneycontrol reported on Sept. 5. An unnamed public sector bank official told the publication that the trial may precede an RBI launch of a CBDC this fiscal year.

A joint committee of the United States's Uniform Law Commission (ULC) and the American Law Institute (ALI) finalized amendments to the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), regulating the specifics of digital asset transactions and crypto-as-collateral secured financings. 

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has lashed out at crypto assets once again. In an interview with ET Now, Das reiterated his concerns over the crypto assets. The RBI chief said, "cryptos may lead to dollarization of the developing countries like India as the prices of crypto tokens are mostly denominated in dollars." He said that this will create serious financial instability in the country. The RBI governor also added that cryptos pose a serious risk for small investors who are prone to lose their money. «This may favour me if I am sitting in the other part of the world, but not here,» he said. «This will work in the favour of an advanced economy,» he added.

In a novel address at the University of California Berkley published on Wednesday, Olli Rehn, governor of the Bank of Finland, touted the possibility of a digital euro centralized bank digital currency (CBDC) functioning in tandem with private fintech solutions to facilitate the cross-border payment of services across Europe.

 

Government controlled “programmable money should terrify you”, says social media influencer and TV Host Layah Heilpern, who sees central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) as a way for banks and governments to reign control over their people.

The eNaira, Nigeria’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), will enter the second phase of its expansion with new technology to beef up its user base, Nigerian Central Bank governor Godwin Emefiele said Thursday, speaking at the 2022 eNaira Hackathon in Abuja. The eNaira, Africa’s first CBDC, was launched in October 2021.

The European Central Bank (ECB) says the introduction of digital cash in the form of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) appears to be the "only solution" that will guarantee a "smooth continuation" of the current monetary system. 

 

Struggling through decades of economic sanctions, Iran has placed its first international import order using $10 million worth of cryptocurrency, according to a senior government trade official. 

The Reserve Bank of Australia weighs in the central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) race to explore use cases for a CBDC in the country. It will collaborate with the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC) on a respective research project. 

Australia's central bank launches digital currency project

 

On top of its wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) projects and proof-of-concept Retail CBDC testing with corporates, the Bank of Thailand (BOT) will extend the scope of CBDC development aimed at retail to a pilot phase. A possible real-life application of the "Retail CBDC" will be conducted inside the private sector on a limited scale. 

The United Kingdom Crypto and Digital Assets All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) announced Thursday its upcoming inquiry on the country’s crypto and digital asset sector. The announcement included details of the group’s plans and how interested parties can participate. 

Crypto technology as a means of payment is logical extension of fintech companies but challenges lie on its usage as an asset class and an alternative to currency, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Thursday. Speaking on sidelines of Fintech Festival, Chandrasekhar said the whole world is grappling with the issue of crypto and has to come to an understanding on the ways and means to address it. «Crypto as a means of payment is logical extension of fintech but crypto as an asset class and crypto as a substitute for currency is an area with which all currencies of the world and all regulators of the world are struggling with. We will find our way with prudence, caution. We have completely clear objective as to who will do crypto in India. The government has said that RBI will do crypto the digital rupee as first measure and then we see how market evolves,» Chandrasekhar said. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the RBI has expressed concerns over cryptocurrencies noting that they should be prohibited as they can have destabilising effect on the monetary and fiscal stability.

Australian central bank Governor Phillip Lowe said that a private solution “is going to be better” for cryptocurrency as long as risks are mitigated through regulation.

A sandbox test of a retail full-reserve digital currency (FRDC) has been completed in the United Kingdom, distributed ledger fintech company Millicent Labs announced July 14. The test was a demonstration for Innovate UK, a branch of the government’s UK Research and Innovation, which co-funded the company. 

The first phase of experiments with a wholesale digital euro has been completed, and Phase 2 experiments will begin this year, Banque de France governor François Villeroy de Galhau said Tuesday. Four or five new experiments are expected to be launched. 

In a fresh episode of the longstanding battle between the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) and the country's Ministry of Finance, representatives of the former have criticized the latter’s idea of supporting the stablecoins, which some private investors have sought to launch in the country.