As governments around the world redesign the financial sector with new infrastructure and digital money, it is time to reconsider what matters. Moves by central banks to issue new digital currencies need to be scrutinized for how they affect people’s rights, such as privacy, choice, and access to the economy.
The People’s Bank of China has led the world in developing a national central bank digital currency, the digital Yuan or e-CNY. Research began in 2014. Now China’s official digital currency has logged over $5.3 billion in transactions. Recently, the PBOC published a report in English highlighting the digital Yuan’s development and the central bank’s guiding policy principles of inclusiveness, privacy, safety, efficiency, regulatory compliance, and interoperability. Taken individually, these principles are sound. At the same time, they each have system-level implications for the design of CBDC. Where they conflict, as values and requirements often do, trade-offs are made around “what matters” for the goals and objectives of the CBDC system.
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The People’s Bank of China has led the world in developing a national central bank digital currency, the digital Yuan or e-CNY. Research began in 2014. Now China’s official digital currency has logged over $5.3 billion in transactions. Recently, the PBOC published a report in English highlighting the digital Yuan’s development and the central bank’s guiding policy principles of inclusiveness, privacy, safety, efficiency, regulatory compliance, and interoperability. Taken individually, these principles are sound. At the same time, they each have system-level implications for the design of CBDC. Where they conflict, as values and requirements often do, trade-offs are made around “what matters” for the goals and objectives of the CBDC system.
Read more