CBDC Financial News

South Korea’s central Bank of Korea (BOK) says it is now ready to commence “real-world” testing for its prototype digital won – but is refusing to say whether or not it actually intends to roll out the token.

International agencies are urging central banks to consider interoperability early in the design of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures, the BIS Innovation Hub, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank released a report Monday that looked at three options for cross-border interoperability that address challenges including high costs, low speed, limited accessibility and lack of transparency.

A United States-based lobbying group has raised a voice against developing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the United States. The National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU) believes the project’s cost outweighs the “hypothesized benefits.”

While the US authorities are intensifying work on developing crypto regulations, the country’s Department of Treasury has presented to President Joe Biden a framework to facilitate international cooperation on introducing such regulations and standards at the international level.

As reported by local news outlet bnext.com on Wednesday, Chin-long Yang, Governor of the Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan), recommended a no-interest design for the country's central bank digital currency, or CBDC, pilot. In explaining the decision, Yang said that a CBDC where interest is paid on digital asset deposits would likely become a replacement for fiat New Taiwan Dollar (NT$) deposits in banks. "Once the banks' available deposits decrease," Yang explained, "it would lead to a corresponding increase in the cost of financing and thereby increase the cost of borrowing for consumers." 

VTB Factoring, a subsidiary of Russia’s state-owned bank, reported the first major deal with digital finance assets. As part of the deal, the bank subsidiary acquired a tokenized debt pool of the engineering company Metrowagonmash, issued via the fintech platform Lighthouse.

Connecticut House of Representatives member Jim Himes has released a proposal aiming to start a dialogue on the United States potentially launching a central bank digital currency, or CBDC.

The Bank of International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub released a report Tuesday looking at four projects that examined wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) transfers across borders. The projects demonstrated the technical feasibility of the transfers, the BIS found, but practical and policy issues remain outstanding. 

On Monday, the Bank of Israel released the results of a lab experiment that examined user privacy and the use of smart contracts in payments. This was the central bank’s first technological experiment with a central bank digital currency (CBDC).

The U.S. thinktank Atlantic Council released a report Wednesday on cybersecurity issues related to central bank digital currencies (CBDC). The authors provide a generalized discussion of CBDC security, but with a clear focus on the United States and issues specific to it.

The payment mechanism in India may get turned upside down in another four years. 

consultation paper on cryptocurrencies, Reserve Bank Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar on Thursday said the soon-to-be-introduced central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) can «kill» whatever little case that exists for private virtual currencies like Bitcoin. Sankar also attacked 'stable coins' which are pegged to a particular currency. The RBI has been vehemently opposed to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, saying there is no underlying value for such instruments which are essentially speculative in nature. It has gone public with the same, even as the government has yet to make its stance clear. Earlier this week, the Department of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance had said it will soon be coming out with a paper on such private cryptocurrencies.

Get ready for fundamental change in money and payments, John Williams, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, told central bank officials, academics and financial industry leaders from around the world Wednesday. Williams delivered the opening remarks at an invitation-only workshop on monetary policy implementation cohosted by the New York Fed and Columbia University.

Dania Gonzalez, Deputy of the Republic of El Salvador, was recently in Brazil to reveal her country's experiences with the decision to adopt Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender. Gonzalez’s invitation to Brazil came from digital influencer Rodrix Digital, who was recently in El Salvador to produce a documentary about cryptocurrencies.

United States Federal Reserve vice chair Lael Brainard submitted a written statement in advance to the Financial Services Committee's virtual hearing, "On the Benefits and Risks of a U.S. Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)," that took place Thursday. That was a sound strategic move, considering that more than 25 legislators lined up to ask questions. 

Brazilian exchange Mercado Bitcoin announced its partnership with the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) on Tuesday. The company said it intends to develop one of the nine projects selected for the LIFT Challenge Real Digital, promoted by the Central Bank of Brazil.

The process of introducing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) is fraught with unknowns, some of which were elucidated in a panel of experts gathered Monday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The panel concluded that good design is key to a successful CBDC, and there are fewer challenges for wholesale CBDC introduction.

Global payments network Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) is partnering with French consultancy Capgemini to conduct new experiments and test how domestic central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) can be interlinked, taking the next step toward cross-border payments utilizing such currencies.

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, or SWIFT, the Belgian financial messaging network used by banks in international money transfers, announced Thursday that it is teaming up with French IT company Capgemini to conduct experiments with cross-border central bank digital currency (CBDC) payments. This is SWIFT’s second research project on CBDC.

Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are coming, while several are already here. For central banks, they provide a means of lubricating and digitalizing the global economy, with a November report from JPMorgan and Oliver Wyman concluding that CBDCs could save companies USD 100bn per year.

Chinese banks are exploring new methods of enabling digital yuan users to earn interest on their central bank digital currency holdings – with “smart management” tools that can detect when funds have been left idle for long periods of time.