The think tank Atlantic Council has released a major report on central bank digital currencies (i.e. CBDC). He notes that almost all countries have stepped up efforts to establish CBDC systems, and some of them are already at the stage of completion of this process.
According to the report, 130 countries are considering implementing CBDCs. This is a fairly significant increase compared to May 2020, when only 35 countries worked in this direction.
Together, these 130 countries produce 98% of the world’s GDP. Among this list are 19 countries from the G20. The only exception is the United States, where the use of retail CBDC remains in question, especially against the backdrop of protests in many states. However, the US is advancing on wholesale (banking) CBDC. There are currently 12 international CBDC wholesale projects.
Other G7 banks, including England and Japan, are developing CBDC prototypes and consulting with the public and private sectors on financial confidentiality.