The Bank of Canada has announced a strategic shift away from developing a retail Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) to focus on broader payments system research and policy development. This decision follows a public consultation in 2023, which revealed significant privacy concerns among Canadians. While the central bank remains open to revisiting the idea of […]
South Korea’s central bank, the Bank of Korea, will soon allow participants to use digital tokens for payments at supermarkets and convenience stores in a central bank digital currency (CBDC) trial. Starting in December, 100,000 participants will be part of this test. Retail partnerships and global initiatives like Project Agora highlight the broader impact of […]
The Australian Central Bank is focusing on a wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) due to its potential economic benefits compared to a retail CBDC. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has launched Project Acacia, a three-year plan to explore wholesale CBDC opportunities. While the RBA and Treasury could still consider a retail CBDC, a […]
New data shows that 134 countries, representing 98% of global GDP, are now exploring central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), with 66 nations advancing to pilot or development stages. Every G20 nation is engaged in CBDC efforts, with notable leaders such as China and the European nations pushing forward. The U.S. remains lagging behind Europe and […]
The Central Bank of Brazil disclosed a new set of use cases that will be part of the second phase of the ongoing pilot of its drex CBDC. Among the 13 instances selected from the 46 presented are platforms for tokenizing real estate, liquidity pools for trading public securities, and even automating automobile transactions. Central […]