
Central Bank Perspectives

Bank for International Settlements
Central bank digital currencies: foundational principles and core features
Report no 1
The Bank of Canada, European Central Bank, Bank of Japan, Sveriges Riksbank, Swiss National Bank, Bank of England, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve and Bank for International Settlements have collaborated on a report setting out common foundational principles and core features of a CBDC.

Bank of Canada
Security and convenience of a central bank digital currency
Staff Analytical Note 2020-21
The central bank could mitigate potential security risks in the design of the CBDC by limiting balances or transfers, modifying liability rules or imposing security protocols on storage providers.

European Central Bank
Report on a digital euro
This report examines the issuance of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) – the digital euro – from the perspective of the Eurosystem. Such a digital euro would be a central bank liability offered in digital form for use by citizens and businesses for their retail payments. It would complement the current offering of cash and wholesale central bank deposits.

Arab Monetary Fund
Central Bank Digital Currencies: An Analytical Framework for Arab Central Banks
No. 152 2020
This policy paper aims at exploring the opportunities and challenges related to the issuance of digital currencies by central banks in the Arab Region, providing an analytical framework for a comprehensive set of perspectives to look at when a central bank explores the opportunity to initiate its digital currency project.

Norges Bank
Central bank digital currency project status report
Paper 2/200
The CBDC project is now in its third phase. The purpose of the third phase is to provide a more solid foundation for assessing whether Norges Bank should work to issue a CBDC and if so, in what form.

Bank for International Settlements
Rise of the central bank digital currencies: drivers, approaches and technologies
BIS Working Papers No 880
BIS sets out a comprehensive database of technical approaches and policy stances on issuance. It takes stock of the technical design options. It concludes with an in-depth description of three distinct CBDC approaches by the central banks of China, Sweden and Canada.

The Federal Reserve
Comparing Means of Payment: What Role for a Central Bank Digital Currency?
Feds Notes
This paper looks at the potential benefit that a central bank digital currency (CBDC) could provide in the context of existing payment mechanisms. Central banks today provide the primary payment mechanisms for trade and commerce: cash, used by the public, and electronic payment services, used by eligible financial institutions.

Bank of Canada
Designing a CBDC for Universal Access
Staff Analytical 2020-10
The Bank designs every note to be easily used by everyone, including people who are blind or partially sighted. Our current research explores how a central bank digital currency (CBDC) could also be designed for universal access, should the Bank decide to issue one.

Bank of Canada
Security of CBDC
Staff Analytical Note 2020-11
In addition to securing the underlying storage and transfer of value, security involves aspects of privacy and resilience. Threats must be mitigated to protect the integrity of funds and the confidentiality of users. A secure CBDC system will retain public trust in the central bank.

Bank of Canada
Privacy in CBDC Technology
Staff Analytical Paper 2020-9
This note outlines what is technologically feasible for privacy in a central bank digital currency (CBDC) system. Privacy in a CBDC goes beyond binary choices of anonymity or full disclosure. System designers have a range of choices around the type of information to keep private and who to keep it private from.

Bank of Canada
Is Central Bank Currency Fundamental to the Monetary System?
Staff Analytical Note 2020-2
In this paper, we discuss whether the ability of individuals to convert commercial bank money (i.e., bank deposits) into central bank money is fundamentally important for the monetary system. This is a significant question since the use of cash—the only form of central bank money that the public currently has access to—is declining rapidly in many countries. The question is highly relevant to the discussion around whether central banks need to issue a retail central bank digital currency (CBDC).

Bank of Canada
Technology Approach for a CBDC
Staff Analytical Note 2020-6