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Brazil's Central Bank Shuts Down Drex CBDC Platform (Valor)

Banco Central do Brasil (BCB) has reportedly shut down its Drex central bank digital currency (CBDC) project, due to high maintenance costs and unresolved privacy concerns in transaction processing. The next phase of the Drex project will take a technology-neutral approach, with ongoing studies into tokenization and settlement environments for central bank-issued currency, but privacy solutions remain a challenge. It has been a long while since the last official update from the BCB, but back in August 2025, it had reportedly signaled that it was dropping the blockchain-based design due to immature privacy solutions that failed to meet bank-grade confidentiality and verifiability standards, although at that time the project was still reportedly alive. What is not clear from these latest reports is whether the BCB is walking completely away from the CBDC project or they are just confirmations that the blockchain-based design is being dropped. Until the BCB speaks up for itself, we'll just have to wait. [Source:Valor]

#CBDC #Brazil #DLT #Blockchain #Fintech #DFC

·valorinternational.globo.com·Nov 12, 2025

Brazil's Central Bank Shuts Down Drex CBDC Platform (Valor)

Understanding Disputes Over Digitalization: A Perspective of Cross-Border CBDCs (Heng Wang)

In a forthcoming paper in the Emory International Law Review, Heng Wang analyzes the complexity of disputes arising from digitalization, with a particular focus on cross-border central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). The paper highlights that CBDCs—as novel digital forms of national currency issued by central banks—bring transformative changes, especially through cross-border initiatives like Project mBridge and other multilateral efforts. The paper argues that the rapid digitalization of currency systems increases the likelihood of disputes due to diverging stakeholder interests, regulatory inconsistencies, technological challenges, and evolving governance structures. Wang proposes a framework examining social (stakeholder interests and interactions), material (subject matter and party perceptions), and temporal (evolution and timing of disputes) dimensions to better understand these disputes. By dissecting disputes along these lines, the paper aims to bridge the gaps between digital transformation and dispute settlement, helping public and private actors navigate the complex regulatory, technological, and operational landscape emerging from global CBDC adoption. [Source: ResearchGate]

#CBDC #CrossBorder #Legal #DFC #Fintech

·researchgate.net·Nov 2, 2025

Understanding Disputes Over Digitalization: A Perspective of Cross-Border CBDCs (Heng Wang)

Conceptual Model for POS Payment with Retail CBDC

[November 2024] Lars Hupel posted a paper that presents a comprehensive conceptual model for point-of-sale (POS) payments using retail central bank digital currency (CBDC), with a focus on user and merchant interaction scenarios. The paper examines how retail CBDC could be accepted at POS alongside existing methods, emphasizing the increased relevance of push payments, the necessity for wallet and platform diversity, and the complexity introduced for both consumers and merchants in selecting payment sources. Offline functionality, peer-to-peer mode, and seamless integration with existing payment infrastructure are key focus areas. The model advocates for leveraging familiar standards (like EMV) for online authentication, standardizing QR codes, and addressing the unique user experience challenges posed by offline payments, with the ultimate goal of enhancing adoption while minimizing disruption and inefficiency in the payment landscape. [Source: Lars Hupel]

#CBDC #Payments #Interoperability #Offline #Fintech #DFC

·lars.hupel.info·Nov 1, 2025

Conceptual Model for POS Payment with Retail CBDC

The Past and Future of Money: New Technologies and Economic Risks (G30)

[October 8, 2025] The Group of Thirty (G30) published a report that explores how rapid technological innovation is transforming money and payment systems while exposing new risks to monetary stability. It emphasizes the enduring importance of trust, singleness, and stability in the monetary system, particularly through the two-tier structure where central bank and commercial bank money remain interchangeable at par—an achievement of modern regulation and oversight. Drawing on historical lessons from commodity money and banking eras, the report argues that while new technologies like cryptocurrencies and stablecoins promise efficiency and programmability, they also risk undermining monetary singleness, facilitating illicit finance, and evading regulation if not carefully managed. The working group recommends policymakers accelerate work on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), encourage bank sector innovations such as tokenized deposits within a robust regulatory perimeter, and urgently develop strong regulatory frameworks for stablecoins to promote payment competition without destabilizing the system. [Source: G30]

#G30 #Fintech #CBDC #DFC #Stablecoins #CryptoAssets #DepositTokens

·group30.org·Nov 1, 2025

The Past and Future of Money: New Technologies and Economic Risks (G30)

Money, Payment and Technology: The Legal Challenge (EBLR)

[September 2025] The European Business Law Review (EBLR) published an article by Benjamin Geva that explores the evolving relationship between money, payment, and technology, tracing how advances in payment instruments and innovations like cheques, payment cards, e-money, and digital currency have blurred the lines between "money" and "payment." Historically, money referred to tangible assets like coins, while payment described the transfer mechanism. Over centuries, legal frameworks—especially the law of negotiable instruments—struggled to keep pace as banking systems, technological progress, and new instruments made payment itself a form of money. The rise of electronic banking, stored-value devices, and digital coins further transformed payment mechanisms, creating new legal challenges. With the advent of Fintech and the emergence of central bank digital currencies (CBDC), Geva argues that payment law now faces immense regulatory, consumer protection, and privacy hurdles, and calls for a flexible, coherent legal system to govern the complex landscape of modern payments and money. [Source: EBLR]

#Legal #Regulation #Payments #Fintech #LegalTender #CBDC #DFC

·kluwerlawonline.com·Nov 1, 2025

Money, Payment and Technology: The Legal Challenge (EBLR)

The E-Banknote as a 'Banknote': A Monetary Law Interpreted

[June 28, 2021] The Oxford Journal of Legal Studies published a paper co-written by Benjamin Geva that examines whether electronic banknotes (“e-banknotes”) can be legally and functionally defined as “banknotes” under present monetary laws. It argues that the evolution of banknotes—from paper to digital—should be interpreted through general monetary law principles that prioritize functionality and societal needs over strict adherence to physical form. The authors propose precise terminology for digital currencies and show that a banknote may be “written” electronically, focusing particularly on token-based (non-blockchain) models for central bank digital currency (CBDC) issuance. They advocate for central banks to regard electronic banknotes as legal tender, emphasizing that statutes and constitutions should adapt fluidly with technological progress. The article concludes that e-banknotes, when designed as unique digital tokens with secure ownership and transfer, fulfill both the legal and functional requirements of traditional banknotes, thus paving the way for their issuance without necessitating changes to central bank powers. [Source: SSRN]

#CBDC #LegalTender #Regulation #Fintech #DFC

·papers.ssrn.com·Nov 1, 2025

The E-Banknote as a 'Banknote': A Monetary Law Interpreted

CBDC and Monetary Architecture (Dirk Niepelt)

Dirk Niepelt reviewed the macroeconomic literature on retail central bank digital currency (CBDC), focusing on the question of when the introduction of CBDC is macroeconomically neutral and when it produces significant effects. The study uses a general-equilibrium “neutrality” framework to show that, under certain policy choices, introducing CBDC—even if it displaces bank deposits and alters funding sources—need not have major macroeconomic consequences. However, many of the effects identified in the literature stem not from the intrinsic properties of CBDC but from associated policies or departures from neutrality. CBDC’s impact on financial stability, bank intermediation, and macroeconomic outcomes mainly depends on how it is implemented; political and policy choices (rather than fundamental economic constraints). [Source: Niepelt.ch]

#CBDC #FinancialStability #Macrofinancial #Fintech #DFC

·niepelt.ch·Nov 1, 2025

CBDC and Monetary Architecture (Dirk Niepelt)

CBDC, Flight-to-Quality, and Bank-Runs in an Agent-Based Model (arXiv)

This paper analyzes the impact of introducing a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) on financial stability and welfare using a macroeconomic agent-based model incorporating firms, banks, and households. Households can switch their funds from bank deposits to CBDC based on perceived bank risk, which amplifies the risk of bank runs and financial instability, especially when there is no cap on CBDC holdings. The model shows that while CBDC introduction has limited effects on overall macroeconomic variables like GDP and unemployment, it leads to slightly higher loan interest rates and reduced credit to firms, with wealth increasingly redistributed from banks and firms to households. Unconstrained conversion of deposits to CBDC significantly raises bank default rates and economic volatility, whereas imposing limits (e.g., a cap at 30–40% of deposits and deposit insurance) mitigates these negative effects and can improve welfare. The research concludes that fears over financial disintermediation are mostly exaggerated—well-designed holding limits keep the risks low and offer resilience, but allowing large-scale conversion to CBDC could harm both stability and welfare. [Source: arXiv]

#CBDC #FinancialStability #Macrofinancial #Fintech #DFC

·arxiv.org·Nov 1, 2025

CBDC, Flight-to-Quality, and Bank-Runs in an Agent-Based Model (arXiv)

Digital Euro Legislative Process Advances (European Parliament)

Fernando Navarrete, the rapporteur responsible for shepherding the digital euro legislation through the European Parliament, published his draft report for the Single Currency Package, which includes the Establishment of the Digital Euro Regulation, On October 28, 2025. The package included proposals for the establishment of the digital euro regulation, legal tender status regulation, and the provisions for payment service providers (PSPs) in non-euro member states regulation. [Source: European Parliament] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/ECON-PR-778137_EN.pdf (legal tender status) https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/ECON-PR-778135_EN.pdf (PSPs in non-member countries)

Notably, the DRAFT legislation prioritizes the rollout of the offline versioN and mandates that the European Central Bank (ECB) complete all technical and organizational preparations for the offline digital euro before the online version is considered. Introduction of the online digital euro will depend on a market assessment by the European Commission, which will proceed only if there is no suitable pan-European private retail payment solution that covers person-to-person, point-of-sale, and e-commerce. Both forms, upon ECB authorization, enter a minimum 24-month adaptation phase to allow payment service providers and stakeholders to adjust securely and gradually. This framework aims to avoid crowding out private sector solutions, synchronize technical standards, and ensure interoperability, with clear fee guidelines and user choice, making public sector intervention conditional and proportional to actual market needs.

#Fintech #CBDC #ECB #DFC #Eurozone

·europarl.europa.eu·Oct 31, 2025

Digital Euro Legislative Process Advances (European Parliament)

European Council Call for Acceleration of Digital Euro Progress (European Council)

At its October 23, 2025 Summit, the European Council called for the swift completion of digital euro legislative work and the acceleration of other preparatory steps. The statement noted that "the digital euro offers a strategic opportunity for supporting a competitive and resilient European payment system, contributing to Europe’s strategic autonomy and economic security, and strengthening the international role of the euro". The European Council is the top political body of the European Union (EU), composed of the heads of state or government of all EU member countries, the European Council President, and the European Commission President. [Source: European Council]

#CBDC #Fintech #Eurozone #ECB #DFC

·consilium.europa.eu·Oct 31, 2025

European Council Call for Acceleration of Digital Euro Progress (European Council)

Bank Indonesia Governor Reveals Government Bond Tokenization Plans (CNBC)

Bank Indonesia (BI) Governor Perry Warjiyo reportedly announced plans to issue a national stablecoin backed by government bonds (Surat Berharga Negara or SBN). The digital central bank securities will be tokenized versions of government bonds built on a prospective wholesale digital rupiah central bank digital currency (CBDC) platform. He goes on to say that the tokenized bonds would represent "Indonesia's national version of a stablecoin" but he might mean that in the broader sense of "stablecoin" rather than as a generally-accepted medium of exchange. My interpretation would be consistent with where the BI's Project Garuda wholesale CBDC proof of concept (POC) left off, concluding that the BI will proceed with broader explorations of a securities ledger. [Source: CNBC]

#CBDC #Indonesia #wCBDC #Tokenization #Settlement #Fintech #DFC

·cnbcindonesia.com·Oct 30, 2025

Bank Indonesia Governor Reveals Government Bond Tokenization Plans (CNBC)

HKMA Completes Second Phase of e-HKD Pilot Programme (HKMA)

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has completed the second and last phase of its e-HKD central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot program. It evaluated the commercial viability and scalability of an e-HKD in various retail scenarios and compared it with tokenized deposits, structured around three themes: (i) settlement of tokenised assets, (ii) programmability, and (iii) offline payments. The results showed that an e-HKD can deliver benefits such as cost-efficient, programmable, and resilient transactions. One of the key takeaways was that, for retail end users, including merchants, consumers and individual investors, the difference between an e-HKD and tokenized deposits is not immediately clear, particularly in the context of routine payment transactions. Hence, the HKMA concluded that the immediate priority for the e-HKD lies in wholesale payments, and going forward it will prioritize the development of the tokenization ecosystem and cross-border payments. [Source: HKMA]

#Fintech #CBDC #DFC #HongKong #wCBDC #Tokenization #Settlement #DLT

·hkma.gov.hk·Oct 29, 2025

HKMA Completes Second Phase of e-HKD Pilot Programme (HKMA)

eCurrency to Pilot Central Bank Digital Currency Solution in Madagascar (eCurrency)

eCurrency Mint is set to begin an eAriary central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot in Madagascar. The project aims to introduce a digital version of the Ariary currency, leveraging eCurrency's DSC3 technology to enable secure and efficient transactions. The solution is designed to integrate seamlessly into Madagascar's existing financial ecosystem, and will be piloted in partnership with PayLogic SA to align with the “specific requirements of the Banky Foiben'i Madagasikara”. However, it is unclear to what extent the central bank itself is involved. [Source: PR Newswire]

#Madagascar #CBDC #Fintech #eCurrency #DFC

·prnewswire.com·Oct 29, 2025

eCurrency to Pilot Central Bank Digital Currency Solution in Madagascar (eCurrency)

China’s Digital Yuan CBDC Processes $2 Trillion (Ledger Insights)

China's digital yuan payment volumes reportedly reached RMB 14.2 trillion ($2 trillion) by September 2025, nearly doubling from RMB 7.3 trillion in July 2024. The number of digital RMB wallets has increased to 2.25 billion, with users opening multiple wallets. However, the average transaction value has remained stable at RMB 428 ($60), a decline from the 2023 peak of RMB 1,895 ($135). [Source: Ledger Insights] https://english.news.cn/20251028/ef76c5940b984294a966119ad660dd8f/c.html

#CBDC #China #Fintech #mCBDC #DFC

·ledgerinsights.com·Oct 29, 2025

China’s Digital Yuan CBDC Processes $2 Trillion (Ledger Insights)

Can CBDCs Improve the Delivery of Social Safety Nets? (IMF)

The IMF published a paper that evaluates whether retail central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) can improve the effectiveness and efficiency of delivering social safety nets (SSNs) to vulnerable populations. The authors find that while CBDCs used merely as payment delivery mechanisms offer limited advantages over existing fast payment systems, their real potential lies in serving as payment administration platforms. Features such as programmability, peer-to-peer transfers, decentralized ledger access, and direct transaction monitoring could enable SSN agencies to automate transfers, operate independently from private financial institutions, and better track payments, leading to more streamlined and transparent benefit delivery. However, these benefits come with significant challenges: privacy protection, compliance and customer due diligence requirements, technological and infrastructure risks, and the need for thoughtful integration with established systems. The paper concludes that unlocking CBDCs’ full potential for social safety nets requires close collaboration between digital currency developers and SSN administrators, with careful consideration of comparative advantages and risks. [Source: IMF]

#CBDC #G2P #Privacy #Fintech #IMF #DFC

·imf.org·Oct 25, 2025

Can CBDCs Improve the Delivery of Social Safety Nets? (IMF)

Design Note – Alias Service (Bank of England)

The Bank of England (BOE) published a digital pound design note that explores how alternative aliases, such as mobile numbers, email addresses, or randomly generated codes, could improve convenience, privacy, and interoperability in retail payments. The note highlights that, when used as alternative identifiers for digital money accounts, aliases can improve the convenience, privacy and security of retail payments, while also supporting interoperability between different payment schemes and jurisdictions. The BOE proposes that a digital pound alias service should be integrated into its infrastructure, ensuring neutral mapping of aliases to user accounts irrespective of provider, but with careful safeguards for privacy. The preferred model would see the BOE host or orchestrate the service while potentially delegating data management to intermediaries (payment interface providers), balancing system control with innovation and privacy. [Source: BOE]

#CBDC #DFC #Fintech #UnitedKingdom #DigitalID

·bankofengland.co.uk·Oct 23, 2025

Design Note – Alias Service (Bank of England)

HaRBInger 2025 Fourth Global Hackathon (RBI)

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) launched its "HaRBInger 2025 – Innovation for Transformation" hackathon, which features as one of the three focus areas, offline central bank digital currency (CBDC). Participants are invited to design a secure, user-friendly, tamper-resistant, and scalable solution for enabling offline digital rupee transactions. The solution should allow consecutive offline payments without real-time internet or telecom connectivity and ensuring double-spend prevention. It should work on low-cost devices and be agnostic across devices and communication protocols, and work on different form factors. [Source: RBI]

#India #CBDC #Offline #DFC #Fintech

·rbi.org.in·Oct 23, 2025

HaRBInger 2025 Fourth Global Hackathon (RBI)

India Introduces Digital Rupee for Easy Offline Payments (The CSR Journal)

The Reserve Bank of India reportedly officially launched the offline digital rupee CBDC during the Global Fintech Fest 2025 in Mumbai. It would offer direct wallet-to-wallet transfers, benefiting remote areas and those without banking access. Users will be able to download wallets from 15 major banks. The wallets will offer secure recovery options in case of lost devices, alongside transaction limits set at Rs 50,000 per day or 20 transactions, with wallet balances capped at Rs 1 lakh. Key features will include programmable money (restricting usage by location, time, or purpose), and support for government welfare and corporate payments. [Source CSR Journal]

#CBDC #India #Offline #Fintech

·thecsrjournal.in·Oct 23, 2025

India Introduces Digital Rupee for Easy Offline Payments (The CSR Journal)

Design Note – Offline Payments (Bank of England)

The Bank of England (BOE) published a note that outlines its current thinking on offline payments for a potential digital pound, distinguishing between “deferred offline payments” (similar to card transactions where payment is queued until a party reconnects online) and “device offline payments” (where value moves directly between devices out of online system view, like cash transfers). The note emphasizes the established use cases for deferred offline payments (e.g., transit, vending machines) and acknowledges future opportunities and resilience benefits for device offline payments, though risks and technical maturity mean such device-to-device features would not be available at launch. [Source: BOE]

#Fintech #CBDC #DFC #Offline #UnitedKingdom

·bankofengland.co.uk·Oct 23, 2025

Design Note – Offline Payments (Bank of England)

Bank Negara Malaysia to Complete Domestic Wholesale CBDC proof-of-concept by end-2025 (MOF)

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) is reportedly expected to complete its proof-of-concept for a domestic wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) by the end of 2025. This initiative seeks to evaluate the potential use of CBDC within Malaysia's wholesale payment system, especially focusing on the real-time electronic transfer of funds and securities system (Rentas), and to improve the understanding of distributed ledger technology (DLT) and CBDC for both BNM and the broader financial sector. Additionally, BNM is actively participating in several Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub-led projects—such as Project Dunbar, Project Mandala, and Project Rialto—which explore how multi-CBDC arrangements can make cross-border wholesale payments more efficient, faster, and secure. [Source: The Edge Malaysia]

#CBDC #wCBDC #Malaysia #Fintech #DFC #CrossBorder #Settlement

·theedgemalaysia.com·Oct 23, 2025

Bank Negara Malaysia to Complete Domestic Wholesale CBDC proof-of-concept by end-2025 (MOF)

Ethiopia's Parliament Passes CBDC-Enabling Legislation (NBE)

[February 4, 2025] The Ethiopian Parliament passed into law National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) Proclamation No. 1359/2025, establishing a legal framework for the introduction of a digital birr central bank digital currency (CBDC). It permits the central bank's Board to issue a Directive to issue CBDC as legal tender of the country. [Source: NBE]

#Ethiopia #CBDC #DFC #Fintech

·nbe.gov.et·Oct 21, 2025

Ethiopia's Parliament Passes CBDC-Enabling Legislation (NBE)

Bolivian Central Bank Publishes CBDC Consultative Paper (BCB)

Banco Central de Bolivia (BCB) published an initial assessment of the feasibility of implementing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in Bolivia. The consultative document examines the progress made in modernizing the national payment system and analyzes how a digital boliviano could be integrated as a complement to existing infrastructure, strengthening monetary sovereignty and financial stability. It finds that considering the currently high level of development of the retail payment system in Bolivia, the additional benefits that a retail CBDC could offer could prove limited in the short term. In this context, the impact of its implementation must be carefully evaluated, especially in relation to existing capacities. However, a wholesale CBDC represents a strategic opportunity to strengthen the operational, technological, and regulatory pillars of the national financial system. The BCB emphasizes that the publication of this paper does not imply a definitive decision on the issuance of a digital boliviano. https://web.archive.org/web/20251225231901/https://www.bcb.gob.bo/webdocs/CBDC/Moneda_digital_CBDC_v11.pdf https://www.bcb.gob.bo/webdocs/files_noticias/CP-49%20Boliviano%20digital%20%20OK%20OK%20(1).pdf [Source: BCB]

#Bolivia #CBDC #wCBDC #Fintech #DFC

·bcb.gob.bo·Oct 16, 2025

Bolivian Central Bank Publishes CBDC Consultative Paper (BCB)

Reserve Bank of India Announces Unified Markets Interface (RBI)

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shri Sanjay Malhotra announce that the central has conceptualised the Unified Markets Interface (UMI), as a next-generation financial market infrastructure. UMI will have the capability to tokenize financial assets and settlements using wholesale central bank’s digital currency (CBDC). He said that early results from the inaugural pilot on the issuance of certificates of deposit in improving market efficiency are encouraging. [Source: RBI]

#Fintech #CBDC #wCBDC #India #Tokenization #DFC

·m.rbi.org.in·Oct 15, 2025

Reserve Bank of India Announces Unified Markets Interface (RBI)

Kazakhstan Digital Tenge CBDC Project Update (LinkedIn)

Binur Zhalenov, Chief Digital Officer of the National Bank of Kazakhstan provided an update on the central bank’s digital tenge R3 Corda-based digital currency (CBDC) pilot project. The project centers on programmable public finance—enabling conditional, automated fund disbursement in government spending. In this model, allocated funds (such as those for infrastructure contracts) proceed through the payment chain only when predefined criteria are satisfied: supplier licensing, price compliance, and project plan alignment. Funds that fail verification are automatically blocked, while those reaching final recipients convert to unrestricted currency. The framework extends to social welfare payments, where beneficiary verification triggers direct payment to service providers, and to transaction types such as vehicle purchases. The team currently collaborates with the Ministry of Finance and Treasury on approximately 100 implementation projects applying these conditional “purpose-bound” payment mechanisms. [Source: LinkedIn]

#CBDC #Kazakhstan #Programmability #Corda #Fintech #DFC

·linkedin.com·Oct 15, 2025

Kazakhstan Digital Tenge CBDC Project Update (LinkedIn)

A Money View of Offline Payment Functionality (SSRN)

G+D's Lars Hupel argues that offline-capable retail payment systems should use a single issuer, not multiple bank issuers, in the context of CBDC and fast payment system design. The paper compares central bank CBDC, a multi-issuer commercial bank token model, and a single-issuer model for offline value transfer; it finds that multi-issuer offline tokens create foreign-liability, fungibility, and counterparty-risk problems, while a single-issuer structure more closely preserves cash-like bearer behavior. The policy significance is that offline functionality can be built without a central bank-issued instrument, but only if issuance, prefunding, settlement access, and anti-money-laundering controls are centralized enough to preserve finality and risk management. [SSRN]

#CBDC #Offline #Fintech #DFC

·papers.ssrn.com·Oct 15, 2025

A Money View of Offline Payment Functionality (SSRN)

The Potential Financial Stability Impact of the Digital Euro (ECB)

The European Central Bank (ECB) published an analysis of potential banking sector disintermediation associated with the introduction of a digital euro, finding that potential deposit outflows vary substantially by scenario. Under the business-as-usual scenario, outflows from banks are modest for all assessed holding limits, with total outflows well below stress thresholds—deposit inflows from payment digitalization until 2034 (about €127 billion) may actually exceed digital euro outflows for limits up to €3,000. In the flight-to-safety scenario—a highly unlikely, systemic confidence crisis—the maximum aggregate deposit outflow rises from €156 billion with a €500 holding limit to €699 billion with a €3,000 limit (representing up to 8.2% of retail sight deposits and 2.2% of total banking sector assets). For comparison, past real-world crises saw much higher retail deposit outflows: 20.9% in Cyprus (2013) and 25.9% in Greece (2015). Even under stress, most banks maintain liquidity and funding buffers well above regulatory minima, and only a handful would risk falling below these thresholds. The analysis underscores that careful design of digital euro holding limits is critical, as limits contain outflows and help maintain financial stability. [Source: ECB]

#CBDC #ECB #Eurozone #FinancialStability #Fintech #DFC

·ecb.europa.eu·Oct 11, 2025

The Potential Financial Stability Impact of the Digital Euro (ECB)

Assessment of Digital Euro Investment Costs for the Euro Area Banking Sector (ECB)

The European Central Bank (ECB) published an assessment of digital euro investment costs for the euro area banking sector, incorporating critical factors overlooked in previous industry studies. The ECB argues that significant cost synergies and mutualization opportunities exist within the payment industry, which could substantially reduce the €18 billion figure estimated by a previous study by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). By accounting for external synergies through shared vendors, outsourcing arrangements, and collaborative infrastructures—as well as adjusting for specific digital euro design features—the ECB estimates that actual implementation costs could range from €4-5.77 billion total (€1-1.44 billion annually over four years). This analysis reveals that banking group synergies within Institutional Protection Schemes (IPSs) could achieve 90-98% cost savings, while market synergies for independent banks could yield 25-40% reductions depending on vendor concentration and collaboration history. The report emphasizes that banks already extensively use shared solutions for payment channels and compliance functions, and this model can be leveraged for digital euro implementation, bringing costs closer to the European Commission's original estimate of €2.8-5.4 billion. (PwC Report: https://www.pwc.de/de/finanzdienstleistungen/pwc-digital-euro-cost-study-2025.pdf; IPS: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/IDAN/2022/699511/IPOL_IDA(2022)699511_EN.pdf) [Source: ECB]

#CBDC #Eurozone #ECB #Fintech #DFC

·ecb.europa.eu·Oct 11, 2025

Assessment of Digital Euro Investment Costs for the Euro Area Banking Sector (ECB)

Eurosystem Selects Members for the Pontes Market Contact Group (ECB)

The Eurosystem has chosen a group of financial market participants and central banks to join the new Pontes market contact group, following a July call for expressions of interest. This group aims to facilitate focused dialogue around Pontes, a project designed to enable settlement of distributed ledger technology (DLT) transactions in euro using central bank money. Pontes will begin work in October 2025, initially targeting the pilot phase set for launch in Q3 2026, and later expanding its services. Pontes is a short-term solution for wholesale euro transaction settlement on DLT platforms, with a longer-term project, Appia, to follow, both building on the ECB’s earlier exploratory work regarding settlement using wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC). [Source: ECB]

#ECB #Eurozone #Fintech #CBDC #wCBDC #Tokenization #Settlement #DFC

·ecb.europa.eu·Oct 11, 2025

Eurosystem Selects Members for the Pontes Market Contact Group (ECB)

Banque de France and Euroclear to Tokenize Short-Term Debt in Paris (Euroclear)

Banque de France and Euroclear announced the launch of "Pythagore," a joint project to tokenize Negotiable European Commercial Paper (NEU CP) using distributed ledger technology (DLT)—a major step to modernize the euro area’s largest short-term debt market, which has €310 billion outstanding. This initiative aims to enhance efficiency, transparency, and security in short-term financing. The pilot phase of the project is scheduled to start at the end of 2026, in line with the start of the Eurosystem "Pontes" project. [Source: Euroclear]

#Fintech #Settlement #DLT #France #Eurozone #DFC #Tokenization

·euroclear.com·Oct 11, 2025

Banque de France and Euroclear to Tokenize Short-Term Debt in Paris (Euroclear)

Bank of Uganda Publishes CBDC Consultation Paper (BOU)

[September 2024] The Bank of Uganda (BOU) released a central bank digital currency (CBDC) consultation report. Considering issuance models, the report examines the pros and cons of a direct (central bank to user), hybrid/intermediated (relying on commercial banks or payment providers as distributors), or synthetic model (where private sector issues digital money backed one-to-one by central bank reserves). For the structure and underlying format, the report explores whether the CBDC should be account-based (like a bank account, requiring identification for every transaction) or token-based (like cash, where possession alone may be sufficient for use), weighing trade-offs in privacy, security, resilience, and accessibility. The paper also discusses how programmability—embedding rules directly into digital currency—could support innovation, automate payments, or support government policy (such as restricting where aid money can be spent), but cautions that this adds complexity and may introduce risks that must be carefully managed. The paper emphasizes careful risk analysis and invites broad stakeholder input to guide the decision-making process, with the Bank adopting a phased and cautious approach toward any future CBDC development. [Source BOU]

#Fintech #CBDC #Uganda #DFC

·bou.or.ug·Oct 10, 2025

Bank of Uganda Publishes CBDC Consultation Paper (BOU)