The success of e-CNY, despite its retail characteristics, could be attributed to a strong government push, effective collaboration with banks and e-platforms, and, most importantly, a win-win mentality that inspired the two-tier channel design.

MBridge, China’s cross-border digital currency initiative, has entered the minimum viable product stage. It is the world’s most advanced cross-border CBDC and stands on the cusp of playing a pivotal role in the de-dollarization process.

Japan is the first major market to put a regulatory environment around stablecoins into law.

With the digital pound, the UK is following much of what the European Central Bank has done on the digital euro. But could the UK’s more unified banking sector foster a more revolutionary central bank digital currency?

New platform acts as central account keeper under Luxembourg law for first ever sterling bond deal on blockchain.

While other economic blocs aren’t so convinced of the merits of issuing retail central bank digital currency, the eurozone is ploughing ahead. In doing so, however, it is having to water down the project to such an extent that its usefulness will be limited.

As rates on government bonds rise and economies shrink, the vast stocks of developed market government debt look unsustainable.

Nobody doubts that cross-border payments could be more efficient and less laden with intermediaries. But are JPMorgan and Oliver Wyman right to suggest that central bank digital currencies are the answer?

The likely use of central bank digital currency for payments, in addition to stablecoins and altcoins, would suggest that reports of the demise of the correspondent banking model may be premature.

The closer central banks come to hard design choices over retail central bank digital currencies, the less clear cut the case is to proceed with them.

We are at the peak of the hype cycle for central bank digital currencies, now being touted as one of the most fundamental innovations in the history of central banking. It is time for central banks and governments to be honest with unenthused populations. CBDC can’t deliver all the many promised improvements. As we come to design choices, there will be trade-offs. We might get improved payments but less credit. We could see greater financial inclusion but will lose privacy. Are the few benefits really worth the risk of disrupting the financial system?

Fnality applies for a DLT-based sterling payment system pointing the way to faster and more resilient decentralized financial market infrastructure.

As a Swiss consortium completes a wholesale central bank digital currency proof-of-concept, is the payments industry ready for CBDCs?

As the rest of the world’s central banks try to catch up with China, one can only wonder about the potential of programmable money.

Fear of Chinese advances with programmable money and Facebook’s Libra are pushing central banks to digital currencies, which may transform financial markets.

Fears that the Covid-19 virus might live on banknotes and coins has focused public attention on once esoteric experiments with central bank digital currency. The virus has also exposed the slow pace of emergency government support payments through the conventional banking system, so what once sounded futuristic may be coming soon. CBDC just got real.

First central banks ignored cryptocurrencies, then they mocked them, next they fought them and now they are building their own. Before long central bank digital currencies will be in use, with possibly startling consequences. What will it mean for privacy and personal freedoms? And could the backstop to banking become the banking system itself?