The United States Treasury Department is continuing to consider design decisions relating to the introduction of a central bank digital currency. Under Secretary for Domestic Finance Nellie Liang gave an audience at the Atlantic Council a rundown on March 1 of technical and policy issues the Treasury-led CBDC Working Group is looking at. Liang looked at both wholesale and retail CBDC (wCBDC and rCBDC), saying wCBDC raised more technical questions, whereas an rCBDC involved access issues. She mentioned in particular that “institutions not currently eligible for central bank accounts” could be granted access to a wCBDC. A wCBDC could be …

Legislation has been introduced in the American state of South Dakota to amend the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) to limit the definition of money to exclude cryptocurrencies. Central bank digital currencies (CBDC) would still be considered money under the proposed new definition. The 117-page amendment, introduced into the state house of representatives by Republican Mike Stevens, defines “money” as “a medium of exchange that is currently authorized or adopted by a domestic or foreign government. The term includes a monetary unit of account established by an intergovernmental organization or by agreement between two or more countries.” The bill continued: “The …

The Chinese government’s beloved project of central bank digital currency (CBDC) has not sparked much enthusiasm in the citizens of Hong Kong. In the first four days since the “digital yuan” (also known as “e-CNY”) hard wallets became accessible to the islanders, only 625 Hongkongers had actually obtained them. As reported by the local newspaper on Feb. 28, the city of Shenzhen installed the machines, dispensing the hard wallets for digital yuan, the first of a kind in the whole country. Due to the city’s unique location as a gateway from Hong Kong to mainland China, the machines were programmed …

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), the country's central bank, has released a report outlining use case proposals for its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). The RBA said on Mar. 2 local time that financial industry participants were also chosen to implement the chosen use cases and were invited to participate in a live pilot that is to take place over the coming months. The use cases proposed by the RBA included offline payments, tax automation and a CBDC for "trusted Web3 commerce." The selected partners for the use case trial ranged from banks, such as Commonwealth Bank and Australia …

A cryptocurrency researcher and former CIA analyst believes the United States government’s relatively slow start on Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) development may result in it losing grip on controlling the global financial system. Yaya Fanusie, the policy head at the crypto advocacy group the Crypto Council for Innovation explained in a Feb. 28 Bloomberg interview that sanctioned states are looking to transact on financial infrastructure that isn’t controlled or heavily influenced by the U.S. in order to move funds more freely cross-borders. If the U.S. continues to sit on the “sidelines” and lag behind on CBDC adoption, Fanusie believes …

The creation of a United States digital dollar would “crowd out” the cryptocurrency ecosystem and protect the national security of the U.S. according to a former top advisor in president Joe Biden’s administration. Daleep Singh — a former Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics in the Biden administration — made the comments at a Feb. 28 Senate Banking Committee hearing, suggesting that cryptocurrencies facilitate ransomware attacks and contribute to the evasion of U.S. sanctions. Singh believes the U.S. government embracing a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) “is the single best step that we could take [to protect national interests] …

The United Kingdom is not ready to issue a central bank digital currency (CBDC) just yet as the Bank of England (BoE) doesn’t have enough expertise at the moment, according to a deputy governor. There is more than a 50% chance that the central bank of the United Kingdom would issue a CBDC, but the regulator doesn’t have the technical skills to issue a digital currency yet, BoE deputy governor Jon Cunliffe declared at the Treasury select committee hearing on Feb. 28. Cunliffe said that the BoE expects to get the necessary expertise to move forward with the CBDC development …

Last week was relatively calm regarding enforcement news but brought some peculiar local developments in regulation. United States Representative Tom Emmer introduced legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives that could prevent the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC). According to the Minnesota lawmaker, the bill could prohibit the Fed from issuing a digital dollar “directly to anyone,” bar the central bank from implementing monetary policy based on a CBDC, and require transparency for projects related to a digital dollar. The Canadian Securities Administrators published a notice describing new commitments it expects from crypto asset trading …

United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stressed the importance of implementing a strong regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies during a G20 meeting on Feb. 25. Speaking to Reuters, Yellen said that it was "critical to put in place a strong regulatory framework." She also noted that the United States is not suggesting an "outright banning of crypto activities." Yellen's remarks follow earlier ones from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, stating that banning crypto should be an option: "There has to be very strong push for regulation... if regulation fails, if you're slow to do it, then we …

The Central Bank of Jordan is closer to its next step toward a retail central bank digital currency (rCBDC) with the completion of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) technical report on the country’s markets. The IMF conducted a three-month mission last year to assist the bank with preparations for a CBDC feasibility report. The IMF released its report Feb. 23. Working between July and September 2022, the IMF gave the country’s existing retail payment market a largely positive review, calling it well-integrated. Two nonbank payment service providers (PSPs) have “generally accessible and appropriate product” and the country has high smartphone …

Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are digital versions of fiat currencies that are backed and issued by central banks. Here are five ways in which CBDCs could impact the global financial system. Digitalization of payments CBDCs might make payments quicker and more efficient because they would do away with the need for intermediaries. Costs could be brought down as a result, along with financial inclusion and an improved global payments system. CBDCs could also enable cross-border payments to become faster and more efficient, as they would not be subject to the limitations of the traditional financial system. The ease and …

General manager of the Bank for International Settlements Agustín Carstens spoke at the Singapore FinTech Festival on Feb. 22 and described the digital financial infrastructure he believes would best suit central bankers’ needs. He called that infrastructure a “unified ledger.” Carstens compared the theoretical unified ledger with a smartphone, saying they both work seamlessly with a variety of components. Unlike a smartphone, a unified ledger would have open architecture, however, and would show programmability and composability, that it, it would run and bundle smart contracts. There are over 2 million apps available to smartphone users, Carstens noted. He said: “A …