CBDCs – Making Good Choices

In January the Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology team from the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the US issued a comprehensive toolkit to help central banks develop their Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) policy by giving them a step by step process to follow, supported by detailed worksheets. 

The report was based on input from 45 central banks actively working on CBDCs and covers every type of CBDC whether for small or large, emerging or developed countries. The report considers technology at a policy rather than an implementation level.

What is driving the interest in CBDCs?

The introduction said that the drivers of interest in CBDCs are financial inclusion and payment system stability, but as you read the paper and consider the scope of what has to be considered, the implications of CBDCs extend much further than that.