The subject of CBDCs is a very topical one these days, although we expect that most interested parties have a tangential interest in order to stay somewhat current on the state of cryptos, etc.
This article is posted in interest.co.nz and reviews CBDCs in a bit more detail than usual, with the RBNZ as a focal point. We have been commenting on the various postings around all kids of digital currency, but of course, CBDCs have increased in general perception due to the further research and experimentation by central banks themselves during the past two years.
‘As the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) mulls the idea of introducing a central bank digital currency (CBDC), it’s far from alone in thinking about what this could mean….From the likes of Swift and Accenture, to the Bank for International Settlements, the Bank of England, Fitch and Bernstein, people all around the world are committing time and money to the topic….Speaking at a press conference earlier this month, Christian Hawkesby, Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Assistant Governor and General Manager of Economics, Financial Markets and Banking, said the RBNZ is among dozens of central banks actively researching CBDCs….”We have a money and cash department which is in part dedicated to thinking about things like that. So we’re working on it and we’re planning to say more about it through the course of this year,” Hawkesby said….Many other central banks are further down the CBDC path, as demonstrated by the chart below taken from a report by Swift and Accenture looking at the potential impact of CBDCs on international payments.’
So the author digs a bit into the various considerations surrounding the use of CBDCs, such as cross-border, sovereign monetary independence, the role of public money, impacts on monetary policy (typically considered a public function) and bank disintermediation, as well as regulatory impact on private cryptos.
Those readers with some interest can peruse this article for a more broad-based primer on CBDCs. Members of the Emerging Tech advisory service can also read the more detail recent report on the topic of cryptocurrencies.
‘”The crypto regulatory landscape is evolving rapidly as rules are frequently modified and interpreted and applied in an inconsistent manner from one jurisdiction to another. Given that cryptocurrencies have already become substantially big, 100 million plus people hold cryptocurrencies globally, institutional money is now getting involved, corporate treasuries are taking note, and the merits of the technology are more evident now than ever before, we do not expect governments to take a knee-jerk reaction against cryptocurrencies,” Bernstein says.’
Overview by Steve Murphy, Director, Commercial and Enterprise Payments Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group
