83 countries are working on digital central bank currencies
Digital central bank currencies are in different implementation phases in 83 countries around the world. This is shown by a new tracker from the Atlantic Council. China wants to start the Winter Olympics in 2022.
Central bank digital currencies, abbreviated internationally as CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency), are on the rise around the world. Central banks in 83 countries are now looking into how to implement them.
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Caribbean has already started CBDC
Five banks have already fully implemented their respective CBDC. What they have in common is the regional location. They are all located in the Caribbean. The Bahamas, St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Lucia and Grenada have already introduced their central bank digital currencies. This can be very clearly shown in this new tracker from the Atlantic Council comprehend.
Atlantic Council CBDC tracker (screenshot: t3n)
Pilot phases are ongoing in 14 other countries. These include major nations such as Canada, Brazil, Russia, China, South Korea and Sweden. In the European Union, the rather sobering key data of a digital euro were recently announced.
The central bank currency should not run via the blockchain, but via conventional accounts, which are then simply referred to as wallets. In fact, these “wallets” would then be mere secondary accounts to a main account, because self-sufficient D-Euro usage is probably not planned. Rather, the D-Euro should be linked to an existing account.
USA clearly lagging behind in CBDC, China way ahead
The Atlantic Council, founded in 1962, sees itself as a non-partisan organization. Its aim is to promote a leadership role for the USA in central global political issues. The Atlantic Council presented the CBDC tracker on July 22nd. So far, he has been looking at 83 countries and currency unions.
In this context, it is not far from the United States’ leadership role. Although the US Federal Reserve is one of the four largest central banks in the world alongside the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan and the Bank of England, the country is clearly lagging behind in terms of CBDC development.
That should change now. Central bank chief Jerome Powell finally wants to give momentum to the evaluation that has been going on for years. In January he stated that the development of a digital dollar would be a “very high priority” in the future. Above all, Powell wants to advance the fight against white-collar crime.
Several large-scale pilot tests have already taken place in China, including with the participation of the population. For the 2022 Winter Olympics, the Chinese government has now announced that it will also allow foreign visitors to use the digital yuan. However, they would have to be ready to provide the central bank with their passport details. Some US senators around the well-known Bitcoin advocate Cynthia Lummis responded by calling for a boycott on the American Olympians. According to the Chinese central bank, almost 21 million citizens have already opened a virtual wallet for using the digital yuan.
