Central Bank Digital Currencies [CBDCs] have been getting increased attention over the past few months. Regulators and policy-makers around the world have been diverting efforts towards trying and testing the said technology, with China remaining ahead in the race.
Now, according to reports, The European Central Bank’s President—Christine Lagarde—stated at a Frankfurt conference on Wednesday that the ECB will “guarantee” that the Digital Euro will “not be exploited” for commercial purposes. She added,
“This is not the business of a central bank.”
However, this does not mean that the central bank is completely against the use of CBDCs. Just last week, for instance, the bank revealed partners that’d be collaborating with it to develop the Digital Euro prototype. Notably, big names like Amazon were a part of the list, indicating that the ECB is quite keen on developing the digital version of the currency.
Read More: Amazon Among 5 Companies Picked to Build Digital Euro Prototype
In the conference, Lagarde further went on to draw parallels between the Digital Euro and a bank note and stated that the former was the same as the latter, but with a “little less anonymity.” She also went on to assert that that unlike companies that sell collected data for money, the digital version of the currency will protect citizens.
Where do other countries stand on the CBDC front?
Just a day back, Fed Chief Jerome Powell stated that the Fed had not yet decided on whether or not to proceed with a Digital Dollar. At a digital markets conference in Paris on Tuesday, he stated,
“We do not see ourselves making that decision for some time.”
However, it is worth noting that the White House released a crypto regulatory framework recently and a substantial part was dedicated to the Digital Dollar.
Per the said submission, the Federal Reserve will “continue its ongoing CBDC research, experimentation, and evaluation.” More so, because a digital dollar could enable a payment system that is “more efficient, provides a foundation for further technological innovation, facilitates faster cross-border transactions, and is environmentally sustainable.” Furthermore, the released framework added,
“It could promote financial inclusion and equity by enabling access for a broad set of consumers.”
Read More: White House releases a Crypto Regulatory Framework
Countries like Russia and China, on the other hand, are already gearing up to make central bank digital currencies a reality.
Just last week the South China Morning Post reported that the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) will expand e-CNY trials to four entire provinces including Guangdong, Hebei Jiangsu, and Sichuan. In fact, the bank’s deputy governor—Fan Yifei—said at a financial forum in Suzhou that the number of users, merchants and transactions was “steadily growing.”
Russia too, on its part, is prepping to make international payments as soon as its digital currency is launched. Head of the Financial Committee in Russia’s lower house of parliament—Anatoly Aksakov—recently stated that the next step for the Digital Ruble would be its launch for mutual settlements with China.
Read More: Russia to use Digital Ruble for Remittances with China?