For over 14 years, central banks worldwide have seen blockchain technology deliver highly secure, immutable, verifiable and transparent financial ecosystems, starting with the Bitcoin network. Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) stood out as one of the ways for fiat currency to harness a part of what cryptocurrencies achieve today. To not only keep up with rising inflation and cut down on operational costs but also to counter money laundering and related concerns, 98 of 195 countries — representing over 95% of global GDP — have either launched or are researching and developing their own versions of CBDC. With CBDCs joining …

Bank of Indonesia governor Perry Warjiyo has announced developments in its plans to launch a central bank digital currency, or CBDC, for “various digital economic and financial transactions.” In a Dec. 5 speech at the central bank’s annual meeting, Warjiyo said the bank planned to release details on the conceptual design of a digital rupiah — a currency the equivalent of the country’s fiat — and open the matter to public comment. According to the governor, the Bank of Indonesia intended for the digital rupiah to be “integrated, interconnected, and interoperable” with other country’s CBDCs following discussions with central bank …

Regulators worldwide see central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) as a way to enhance fiat capabilities by inheriting the financial prowess of technologies that power cryptocurrencies. Pakistan joined this list by announcing new regulations to ensure the launch of an in-house CBDC by 2025. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) signed in new laws for Electronic Money Institutions (EMIs) — non-bank entities offering digital payment instruments — to ensure the timely issuance of a CBDC in the next three years. The World Bank helped Pakistan design the new regulations, according to local media Arab News. In addition to timeline adherence for …

Central bank governors from around the globe are currently in Thailand to discuss the role of central banks amid evolving financial technology. The conference is jointly hosted by the Bank of Thailand (BOT) and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). A panel discussion on digitalized monetary systems saw Eddie Yue, chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Changyong Rhee, governor of the Bank of Korea, Adrian Orr, governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and Cecilia Skingsley from Bank for International Settlements discuss the rise of digital assets and central bank digital currencies (CBDC) and the risks associated …

The Digital Dollar Project (DDP) and the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) released the results of their Security Settlement Pilot project Nov. 30. The project tested a simulated digital U.S. dollar in transactions with tokenized securities on a blockchain network under real-world conditions. The project was designed “to better understand the implications of a U.S. Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) on post-trade settlement,” especially on DvP (delivery versus payment) settlements, sometimes called atomic settlements, that ensure securities transfers only take place simultaneously or nearly simultaneously with payment. No U.S. CBDC has been developed or even authorized yet. DTCC managing …

Up to $40 billion a year (AU$60 billion), could be added to Australia's national GDP with the right regulatory framework and could lead to enormous cost savings for consumers and businesses according to a new report. The Nov. 29 Digital assets in Australia report was commissioned by the Tech Council of Australia (TCA), one of the country's technology industry advocacy groups, and written by technology consulting firm Accenture, which outlined a number of potential benefits the growth of the digital assets sector in Australia could deliver, stating: “Digital assets (DA) have the potential to transform our lives offering significant time …

The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has introduced a draft concept for its central bank digital currency (CBDC) candidate digital hryvnia, or e-hryvnia. Ukraine’s central bank on Nov. 28 released a statement on the concept of e-hryvnia, which aims to perform all the functions of money by supplementing cash and non-cash forms of the hryvnia as its key purpose. The NBU said it has presented the e-hryvnia concept and continues developing the CBDC project with participants of the virtual assets market, payment firms and state bodies. According to the announcement, the central bank is currently considering and developing three possible …

A handful of government-backed financial institutions have been exploring tokenization use cases to revolutionize traditional financial systems. For instance, El Salvador’s Bitcoin Volcanic bond project has been in the works for over a year and aims to raise $1 billion from investors with tokenized bonds to build a Bitcoin city. The Central Bank of Russia has also expressed interest in tokenized off-chain assets. In addition, the Israeli Ministry of Finance, together with the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE), recently announced the testing of a blockchain-backed platform for digital bond trading. Cointelegraph Research’s 2021 Security Token Report found that most securities …

Mobile money has been a strong competitor to central bank digital currency (CBDC) in Africa, but many of the continent’s central bankers have greater faith CBDC, according to a Bank for International Settlements (BIS) report published Nov. 24. African central bankers also saw greater utility in CBDC for implementing monetary policy than bankers in other parts of the world, according to the BIS. Nineteen African central banks responded to the survey that served as a basis for the report, and all of them stated that they were actively interested in CBDC. Only Nigeria has issued a retail CBDC, the eNaira, …

Despite Japan’s uncertainty on whether to issue a central bank digital currency (CBDC), the Bank of Japan (BoJ) continues experimenting with a potential digital yen. The Japanese central bank has started a collaboration with three megabanks and regional banks to conduct a CBDC issuance pilot, the local news agency Nikkei reported on Nov. 23. The pilot aims to provide demo experiments for the issuance of Japan’s national digital currency, a digital yen, starting in spring 2023. As part of the trial, the BoJ is expected to cooperate with major private banks and other organizations to detect and solve any issues …

Having tested the wholesale usage of its central bank digital currency (CBDC), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is preparing to conduct the retail pilot of the “digital rupee.” The pilot should launch within a month. According to the Economic Times of India, the RBI is in the final stage of preparing the rollout of the retail digital rupee pilot. Among the participants are the State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, ICICI Bank, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Yes Bank, and IDFC First Bank. Reportedly, at some point, the pilot is going to include all …

As much as we all would want last week to be about something else, it was still all about FTX. The Supreme Court of the Bahamas has approved two provisional liquidators from PricewaterhouseCoopers to oversee the assets of the crypto exchange, which is headquartered in the country. Several days later, The Securities Commission of the Bahamas ordered the transfer of FTX Digital Markets’ digital assets to a digital wallet owned by the commission to protect “the interests of clients and creditors.” Turkey’s Financial Crimes Investigation Agency became the latest authority to join the investigation into FTX’s collapse. The regulator also …