Study finds 74% of central banks are interested in blockchain technology.

A semantic analysis of 191 central bank publications identified interest in blockchain technology among 127 regulators (74%). By January 2021 they had mentioned it 4,408 times. This is stated in исследовании by Mindsmith.

More than half of all blockchain mentions were attributed to nine central banks. The clear leaders were the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, and the European Central Bank.

Also in the top ten were the Bank of Lithuania, the Bank of Portugal, the Bank of Thailand, the Central Bank of Tunisia, the German Bundesbank, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

The Bank of Russia is actively increasing its interest in blockchain technology: from issuing mortgages on a blockchain platform to developing a concept for a digital ruble.

Researchers calculated that, collectively, central banks that are to some extent interested in blockchain technology serve 67% of the world’s population and account for about 75% of global GDP.

“Blockchain technology and digital currencies challenge the fundamentals of the monetary system by allowing people to store, spend and move savings without relying on national currencies. This poses a significant threat to the regulators’ role in monetary policy, and it is not surprising that blockchain projects are gaining traction in central banks,” Mindsmith researchers say.

Based on the published studies and reports, the analysts highlighted the main scenarios for blockchain applications by central banks:

• Retail central bank digital currencies (CBDCs);
• Wholesale CBDCs;
• Interbank settlement on securities;
• Mechanism to ensure the resilience of the payment system;
• Issuance and lifecycle management of bonds;
• KYC and AML procedures;
• Data-exchange platforms.

“Blockchain, as a universal technology, has found the broadest application among central banks. While their key focus is currently concentrated on CBDCs, the potential for blockchain use among central banks lies at the intersection of several application scenarios. For this reason, studying global best practices is the first step in adopting innovative technologies,” said Ruslan Yusufov, Mindsmith’s managing partner.

According to an October Mindsmith study, interest in blockchain among global financial institutions remains strong, but the format of engagement with the technology is changing.

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