Some 117 countries around the world are currently working on the design of their CBDC. This is a group of projects with which most of these governments seek to compete with bitcoin (BTC). According to calculations from the CBDC Tracker presented a few days ago by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) team, 9 countries and the 8 islands that make up the Eastern Caribbean Monetary Union have already launched their digital currencies. This, while 38 countries and Hong Kong have pilot projects and 66 countries and 2 monetary unions are investigating CBDCs.
The above list includes the most advanced projects, such as those in China, India and the Caribbean islands. This November 15, the digital tenge launched in Kazakhstan was added to them , with which a large-scale deployment is planned for 2024. The Kazakh government already allows retail payments in merchants and promises that the CBDC will be used from anywhere in the world, using Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and other devices.
This is a significant advance in the development of this type of projects, especially taking into account that in 2020 only about 35 States were dealing with the issue. As figures from the economic analysis group Atlantic Council also indicate, growth has been more than 300% in three years.
This increase in interest has important implications. Mainly because it occurs despite the criticism that is made of this type of currencies, as they are considered mechanisms of control of the States .
It is known, in that sense, that—regardless of the questions and the low level of acceptance—the idea is to have digital payment alternatives managed by governments, which in some way can counteract the popularity achieved by cryptocurrencies . An objective that has been recognized by organizations such as the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Among the first projects launched in the world is China's CBDC, the digital yuan, presented in 2020 as a pilot plan, with wide public deployment in all the country's provinces. The development of the digital currency has reached such a level that it was recently used to pay for the purchase of 1 million barrels of oil.
Something similar happens in India with the digital rupee. The project was launched in 2022, involving 13 banks in 26 cities. It already has 1,460,000 users and 310,000 merchants, which means that 10% of the population has access to the CBDC. Russia, for its part, is among the countries where progress has been made in the execution of pilot tests that began last June, in addition to approving legislation for the CBDC.The most recent launches have also been made on this continent, with Thailand's digital baht, launched last June, and now Kazakhstan's digital tenge.
According to data from the HRF tracker, in most American countries CBDCs are only in the research phase. The announcements made this year by the governments of Guatemala and Honduras are thus cited ; as well as the advances of Peru, with the digital sun project, together with the initiative presented in Mexico. Central banks of Canada, Argentina, Chile and Paraguay are also evaluating the issue.
Another of the most advanced CBDCs is that of Nigeria, where eNaira has been circulating since 2021 , a currency that until now has not achieved public acceptance. Citizens can access it through the eNaira Speed Wallet mobile application. As the HRF tracker points out, in the African country CBDC users are limited both in terms of transactions and balances, depending on how much personal information they are willing to provide. Given the low use of the digital currency, the government restricted access to cash, forcing people to resort to eNaira. Due to pressure, the percentage of use among the population went from 0.5% to 6%. In addition to the Nigerian CBDC, 9 other projects are under investigation in various African countries, with those in South Africa and Ghana having moved to a pilot phase.
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