Central Banks and Digital Currencies

Central banks of Canada, Switzerland, Sweden, the U.K., and Japan along with the European Central Bank and BIS, formed a working group. The Bank of International settlements (BIS) is an international financial institution owned by central banks. The purpose of this working group is to learn more about central bank digital currencies (CBDC) and to share findings with other central banks.

All seven-member announced this news on Tuesday. According to the statement, each central bank will investigate several important topics conned with digital currencies. For example, cross-border interoperability of the CBDC.

Moreover, the members of the group will cooperate with the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI). According to the information, the member will also work with the Financial Stability Board (FSB) which is a recommendation body for the global financial system.

It is important to mention that, head of BIS Innovation Hub, Benoit Coeure will serve as chairman of the group along with Jon Cunliffe. He is a deputy governor of the Bank of England and chairman of CPMI. Senior representatives of other central banks that are part of the group will work with Coeure and Cunliffe.

The interest in central bank digital currencies increased following the Libra announcement in the summer of 2019. The possibility of a private currency accelerated the process as central banks decided to pay more attention to research and development.

Other central banks are also interested in digital currencies. The central bank of Thailand made the decision to launch its digital currency project.

Interestingly, the world’s second-largest economy in the world after the U.S. wants to create its cryptocurrency. The attitude towards the crypto industry is vague; nevertheless, the central bank is working on the national digital currency.

Moreover, the crypto market is evolving and other central banks may follow the footsteps of the U.K. and other countries.

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