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Central Bank Perspectives
Riksbank
E-krona pilot phase 3
April 4, 2023
E-krona report
With regard to programmability, it is the possibility of conditional payments that is interesting in terms of the e-krona. It is therefore not the possibility of conditional money, as money that is programmed for special purposes loses a fundamental property of money: to be useable for payments in all contexts. The Riksbank’s intention with a possible e-krona is not to try to control or limit what it could be used for. This would contradict the basic function of money and, in addition, could be interpreted as an infringement of personal privacy…This could be described as the e-krona having a core platform for the settlement of payments that will perform basic tasks such as holding and transferring money in a secure, high-performance and reliable manner. This platform could then be called, via well-defined APIs, by an upper layer in which market actors can use more advanced logic to set the conditions to for example reserve e-kronor and initiate a transaction.
Bank for International Settlement
CBDCs: Keeping momentum in uncertain times
March 12, 2023
Innovation Summit 2023
'For us [central banks], the issuance of a digital currency that would be central bank money would not be programmable — would not be associated with any particular limitation, whether it’s in time, in type of use — that to me would be a voucher. It wouldn’t be a digital currency. Those who can associate the use of digital currency with programmability would be the intermediaries — would be the commercial banks. And that’s their business. They know how to do that, but if we are to say that a dollar is a dollar, whether it is cash or digital; or a euro is a euro, cash or digital — then for us [central bank] it cannot be programmable. It can be associated with conditionality, which is different, but not programmable,' said Madam Christine Lagarde.
International Monetary Fund
Crypto Assets and CBDCs in Latin America and the Caribbean
February 25, 2023
WP/23/37
After providing a general overview of the nature, pros, and cons of crypto assets and CBDCs, this paper focuses on documenting their recent experience in LAC. The region records a high interest in unbacked crypto assets and stablecoins and its authorities’ policy responses have varied substantially, ranging from the introduction of Bitcoin as legal tender in El Salvador to their prohibition in many other countries worried about their impact on financial stability, currency/asset substitution, tax evasion, corruption, and money laundering. This paper also describes briefly the results of a survey on CBDCs’ introduction plans and crypto assets regulation. Finally, this paper presents some general lessons and policy recommendations for the region on the regulation of cypto assets, digital currencies and cross-border payments, and on the potential introduction of CBDCs.
US House Committee on Financial Services
The ECASH Act
March 27, 2022
The bill directs the Secretary of the Treasury to develop and pilot digital dollar technologies that replicate the privacy-respecting features of physical cash, in order to promote greater financial inclusion, maximize consumer protection and data privacy, and advance U.S. efforts to develop and regulate digital assets.
Federal Reserve Board
Money and Payments: The U.S. Dollar in the Age of Digital Transformation
January 20, 2022
Research and Analysis
The paper summarizes the current state of the domestic payments system and discusses the different types of digital payment methods and assets that have emerged in recent years, including stablecoins and other cryptocurrencies. It concludes by examining the potential benefits and risks of a CBDC, and identifies specific policy considerations.
Bank for International Settlement
Central bank digital currency: the quest for minimally invasive technology
June 7, 2021
Working Papers No 948
The authors set out the economic and operational requirements for a “minimally invasive” design – one that preserves the private sector’s primary role in retail payments and financial intermediation – for CBDCs and discuss the implications for the underlying technology. Developments inspired by popular cryptocurrency systems do not meet these requirements. Instead, cash is the model for CBDC design. Showing particular promise are digital banknotes that run on “intermediated” or “hybrid” CBDC architectures, supported with technology to facilitate record-keeping of direct claims on the central bank by private sector entities.
Norges Bank
Central bank digital currencies - Third report of working group
May 18, 2021
1/2021
This report by a Norges Bank working group summarises the third phase of Norges Bank’s research into CBDCs. The working group discusses the characteristics any CBDC must have, relevant technical solutions and the impact of introducing a CBDC. The working group also discusses international developments in this area and how Norges Bank’s research into CBDCs can continue. The purpose of publishing the working group’s report is to provide information about its work, disseminate knowledge and foster dialogue among stakeholders.
Bank of Israel
A Bank of Israel Digital Shekel – Potential Benefits, Draft Model, and Issues to Examine
May 10, 2021
The document outlines, in general terms only, a draft model of a Bank of Israel digital currency. This draft does not represent any Bank of Israel decision regarding the characteristics of a digital shekel should any be issued. The draft model is the basis for a discussion and for examination of alternatives by the work teams involved in the matter at the Bank of Israel.
Bank of Jamaica
BOJ prepares for central bank digital currency
March 21, 2021
After quietly exploring the viability of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) for some time, Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) took the decision in May 2020, as a part of our ongoing retail payments reform, to venture into this digital innovation that is fast becoming a feature of global central banks. We are proud to be a part of a trend in central banking that is being led by the Caribbean.
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