The central banks of six developing countries are at the pilot stage of implementation, and five have already launched CBDC. For regulators in eight advanced economies, the penultimate phase is characteristic, according to CoinGecko.
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Research into national digital currencies is being conducted by 130 countries. Analysts cited the Atlantic Council CBDC tracker.
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Among the pioneers are the Bahamas, Jamaica, Nigeria, Anguilla, and the East Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU).
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Uruguay was the first country to run a large-scale CBDC pilot in 2017. China, among the G20, led the pack by starting its research in 2014.
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Below are the first ten countries that moved to pilot trials ahead of the rest.
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Analysts attributed the divergence in the pace of adoption between developed and developing countries to the comparatively smaller scale and lower complexity of the financial systems in the latter.
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Developing economies are interested in CBDCs to expand access to financial services and digitalization.
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Advanced economies are adopting a more cautious approach due to concerns about potential negative effects on the banking system and monetary policy.
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The main driver behind CBDC development and deployment is the growing digitization of the global economy. As cash usage falls, regulators risk losing control over monetary policy and payments without an alternative in the form of a digital currency.
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Among the additional benefits of CBDCs are cross-border payments. In their new form, they could help central banks preserve their currency’s status as a global means of exchange and a reserve currency.
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National digital currencies also allow the modernization of aging financial-market infrastructure and the introduction of programmable features that are not feasible with cash, experts concluded.
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Earlier, the Reserve Bank of Australia warned that the CBDC launch was several years away.
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Earlier, the developer suspected the Central Bank of Brazil of adding a ‘freeze’ feature and balance adjustments in the digital real.