Nine out of 10 central banks are exploring digital currencies, reveals a survey by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), based in Basel, which shows that more than a quarter of central banks are developing pilot projects and more than two thirds are likely to issue a digital currency in the short to medium term.
The study, which includes the participation of the National Bank of Angola for the first time, updates previous surveys and includes 81 central banks, 16 of which are African, i.e. 25 more than the 56 that responded in 2020. The Covid-19 pandemic and the emergence of cryptocurrencies have accelerated work on central bank digital currencies (CBDC), with central banks being moved for reasons related to the efficiency of cross-border payments.
In all, around 20% are developing or testing a retail CBDC, designed to be used by consumers, which is double the number of central banks working on a wholesale digital currency, which is intended to be used by banks. . Around the world, central banks are actively exploring CBDC as economies look to bolster their digital payments and banking infrastructure.
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“Many are exploring a CBDC ecosystem that involves private sector collaboration and interoperability with existing payment systems”, summarizes the BIS, in a summary of the survey, which was distributed to central banks in October 2021. collected in December for treatment and the results were released in early May.
The BIS (bank owned by 63 central banks representing 95% of world GDP) reveals that, in 2021, new CBDCs were launched, the eNaira, from Nigeria, and the Sand Dollar, from the Bahamas. Eastern Caribbean and China have also launched pilot versions of their digital currencies, DCash and e-CNY, and the Central Bank of Tanzania already has technicians learning from Nigeria to launch its currency.
According to the Coin Desk, a portal specialized in cryptocurrencies, “China took the lead in the development and testing of a digital yuan and some governments around the world also see CBDC as an asset in their monetary sovereignty”, in addition to contributing to the improvement financial inclusion and accelerating cross-border transfers.
2021 was also characterized by strong growth in cryptoassets (private digital assets with their own unit of account, such as Bitcoin and Etheneum) and the stablecoin market (stable currencies, a category of cryptocurrencies, whose value is linked to a or more goods). This has spurred collaboration between central banks to monitor the implications of these assets and to coordinate regulatory approaches to contain their risks to the financial system.
According to the Bank of Basel, at the end of 2021, stablecoins made up a relatively small proportion of cryptocurrencies – with a market capitalization of USD 175 billion, just over 6% above the value of all cryptocurrencies. The central bank jurisdictions that responded to the survey represent 76% of the world's population and 94% of global economic output. Twenty-five of the respondents are in advanced economies and 56 in emerging markets and developing economies. From Africa, 16 central banks responded: South Africa, Angola, Cape Verde, Congo, Egypt, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
