Central banks can’t ignore the impact of digital currencies anymore

The idea of a CBDC which was mostly frowned upon till a short time ago is now being openly discussed by various Central banks

Although the price action in digital currencies in Q3 has disappointed the Crypto bulls, the mainstream adoption of digital assets has continued to gain traction throughout the year. While financial regulators around the globe are still perplexed on how to deal with this new asset class, the central banks are beginning to cozy up to the idea of issuing their own CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currency).

Last year in November, I reviewed how global central banks have been working on DLT (Digital Ledger Technology) pilot projects which also meant the use of digital currencies in one form or the other. Here are few of the notable ones to refresh your memory:

• Project Ubin — Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)
• Project Jasper — Bank of Canada (BoC)
• Project Stella— Bank of Japan (BoJ) & European Central Bank (ECB)
• Project Khosla — South African Reserve Bank (SARB)
• Project Inthanon — Bank of Thailand
• Project e-Krona — Sweden's Riksbank