CBDC
Mexico confirms plans to roll out CBDCs in 2024
Mexico has announced that it would introduce a new national central bank digital currency (CBDC) in 2024, according to a tweet posted on Thursday. The tweet by an account representing the Mexican presidency highlighted that “new technologies and next-generation payment infrastructure” will help Mexico become more financially inclusive. El @Banxico informa que hacia 2024 tendrá una moneda digital propia en circulación, por considerar de suma importancia estas nuevas tecnologías y la infraestructura de pagos de última generación como opciones de gran valor para avanzar en la inclusión financiera en el país. — Gobierno de México (@GobiernoMX) December 30, 2021 The plans for a CBDC follow the recent statement by Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador that Mexico is un...
From eNaira to eHryvnia, a Caribbean fintech develops CBDCs around the world
Barbados, a paradise island in the West Indies, is known for its azure beaches, tidal waves, shipwrecks, homegrown grown Barbadian hospitality and, more recently, an influx of remote workers. Now, one can add cryptocurrency innovations to that list as well. Bitt, a Barbadian fintech firm developing blockchain technology, has successfully created the eNaira central bank digital currency (CBDC) for Nigeria and is on the path to creating an electronic hryvnia for Ukraine. In an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph, Brian Popelka, CEO of Bitt, discussed the technology behind the eNaira and the roadmap for the firm going forward. Cointelegraph: Would you please describe the technology behind the eNaira digital currency that you created? Brian Popelka: It’s really a stablecoin...
HSBC and IBM create successful multi-ledger CBDC demo
On Thursday, HSBC and IBM announced the successful test of an advanced token and digital wallet settlement between two central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, in a cloud environment. The experiment consisted of transactions between CBDCs, eBonds, and forex. IBM’s Hyperledger Fabric and enterprise technology provider R3’s Corda served as the basis of the distributed ledger facilitating the transactions. The project was overseen by central bank Banque de France as part of a series of tranche projects to implement a digital Euro. Previously the French and Swiss central banks reported positive results on a pilot run of the digital Swiss Franc and Euro. Nevertheless, the two financial institutions issued caution on the subject, citing regulatory concerns. Mark Williamson, managin...
Kazakhstan’s central bank reports results on CBDC pilot project
Kazakhstan, the country behind one of the largest sources of Bitcoin mining hash power, has released the results of a pilot program for its digital tenge. According to a Wednesday report, the National Bank of Kazakhstan, or NBK, said it had confirmed the possibility of implementing a retail central bank digital currency, or CBDC, based on distributed ledger technology. In addition, the central bank tested how Kazakhstan’s citizens might use a digital tenge for offline payments as well as its programmability. In a series of hypothetical scenarios, the central bank tested how a CBDC could be used between second-tier banks and other external participants. The tests also explored how a digital tenge would work for cross-border transactions under Kazakhstan’s regulatory framework. Source:...
Law Decoded: A different Congress hearing, Dec. 6–13
The biggest regulatory story of the week was a United States House Committee on Financial Services hearing squarely focused on crypto. Even the event’s title — “Digital Assets and the Future of Finance: Understanding the Challenges and Benefits of Financial Innovation in the United States” — conveyed a different vibe than countless previous Congressional meetings that had been first and foremost about investor protection or security risks or threats to financial stability. Judging from reactions from many industry participants and experts, the exchange has been received as an overwhelming net positive, with legislators asking informed questions and otherwise acting like their goal was to understand this new thing rather than act on preconceived notions. Of course, there were tired qu...
