Central Banks and the CBDC Conference

As noted in another article this month, the CBDC Conference took place in Istanbul 12-14 September. This article reports almost entirely on the central bank perspective on CBDCs, particularly the use cases justifying their use.

Maintaining the functional, economic and social role of cash

The Dutch National Bank (DNB) laid out, step by step, the current roles of central bank and private money and their interdependence. The public is not actually asking for CBDCs, so why is a digital euro in discussion? DNB laid out what is changing, and the promise of CBDCs, and then looked at the needs of all payment stakeholders.

Ultimately central banks tend to want payment choice for society, but only if the alternatives enable monetary and financial stability. The design of a CBDC needs to deliver this, along with a number of other policy objectives.