Central bank digital currencies (CBDC) - statistics & facts

Let’s get digital

There seem to be two main arguments why central banks want to create their own digital currency. One argument looks to include people without a bank account in the payment digitalization process. This applies to Africa - where less than half of the continent’s population is predicted to have a bank account by 2022 – and Latin America. Jamaica’s Central Bank, for example, want to release its own CBDC in early 2022 for this exact reason. The second argument comes from how fast the payment landscape is changing. Take Europe, for instance, where the share of cash in stores decreased in nearly all euro area countries. Sweden’s Riksbank fears the use of cash money – public money with a certain level of trust - declines too fast. US Federal Reserve Chairman Nick Powell said that “the public needs to understand the risks” of cryptocurrencies. Here, a “public” digital coin can safeguard consumer trust. Additionally, it could increase competition with tech giants: in China, AliPay and WeChat rank in the top three of most used apps.

Where is CBDC as of 2021?

According to a 2021 index, China's developments in replacing banknotes with digital currency for consumers ranked behind developments in Cambodia and the Bahamas. The projects in those two countries – project Bakong and the Sand Dollar, respectively – officially launched in October 2020, with both aiming to make digital money more easily accessible. On the other hand, central banks in countries like Canada or the United Kingdom are investigating in blockchain technology to optimize banking processes rather than for a digital coin. One reason why, could be that consumers in the EU were concerned about privacy when a “digital euro” might release in the future.

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