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Second MOF/BOJ Interim Report on a Japanese CBDC
Second MOF/BOJ Interim Report on a Japanese CBDC
Japan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) published the second interim report of the joint task force with various government ministries and the Bank of Japan (BOJ) on central bank digital currency (CBDC). The primary focus is on three main themes; (i) the legal framework (private law), (ii) privacy and data utilization, and (iii) the roles and division of labor with private payment systems. (In Japanese)
#CBDC#Japan#Fintech#DFC
·mof.go.jp·
Second MOF/BOJ Interim Report on a Japanese CBDC
Designing the Future of Money: The Case for Multiple CBDCs
Designing the Future of Money: The Case for Multiple CBDCs
Banco de la República Colombia (BRC) published a paper that explores how central banks can optimize the design of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) by introducing multiple variants with varying degrees of anonymity and interest rates. The authors examine the trade-offs between anonymity and security and assess the welfare outcomes in economies with and without cash. They find that when anonymity-related externalities (e.g., illicit activity) are high, a cashless society with multiple optimally designed CBDCs maximizes welfare. Even when anonymity costs are absent, a cashless system with one additional CBDC still outperforms systems retaining cash. The study emphasizes the flexibility of multiple CBDCs in tailoring monetary instruments to diverse user preferences while minimizing societal costs, and argues that careful CBDC design can enhance financial stability and efficiency more effectively than static cash-based systems.
#CBDC#Colombia#Fintech#DFC
·banrep.gov.co·
Designing the Future of Money: The Case for Multiple CBDCs
What Characteristics Make Countries Endeavor CBDC Projects?
What Characteristics Make Countries Endeavor CBDC Projects?
Communications of the Association for Information Systems (CAIS) published a study that investigates the factors that drive countries to develop central bank digital currency (CBDC) projects. The research combines quantitative analysis of data from 68 countries with a qualitative analysis of CBDC white papers. The findings indicate that a country's political regime, economic freedom, and perceived corruption significantly influence its decision to develop CBDCs. Specifically, countries with more autocratic political systems, less economic freedom, and higher perceived corruption are more likely to pursue CBDC projects.https://www.ntu.ac.uk/about-us/news/news-articles/2025/05/political-motives-behind-global-adoption-of-central-bank-digital-currency-revealed-in-new-study
#Fintech#CBDC#Stablecoins#DFC
·aisel.aisnet.org·
What Characteristics Make Countries Endeavor CBDC Projects?
Enabling Central Bank Money Settlement and Collateral Eligibility for DLT-based Securities
Enabling Central Bank Money Settlement and Collateral Eligibility for DLT-based Securities
The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) published a paper outlining two critical steps needed to scale distributed ledger technology (DLT) in capital markets in the European Union. First is the urgent need for a settlement solution for tokenized assets using central bank money. Secondly, AFME wants to see tokenized securities being considered eligible as collateral when banks borrow money from their central bank.
#DLT#AFME#CBDC#Settlement#Collateral#Fintech#Tokenization#DFC
·afme.eu·
Enabling Central Bank Money Settlement and Collateral Eligibility for DLT-based Securities
Open source software and central bank digital currency
Open source software and central bank digital currency

The Linux Foundation Decentralized Trust (LFDT) published a report on open source development’s role in central bank projects, and examples of the tech in action in CBDC implementations around the world. LFDT is the umbrella organization launched in September 2024 for the open development of a broad range of ledger, identity, security, interoperability, scale, implementation, and related technologies at the Linux Foundation. It encompasses the growing portfolio of Hyperledger projects and hosts new open source software, communities, standards, and specifications that are critical to the macro shift toward decentralized systems of distributed trust. https://www.lfdecentralizedtrust.org/announcements/linux-foundation-decentralized-trust-launches-with-17-projects-100-founding-members

#CBDC#Linux#OpenSource#Hyperledger#Fintech#DFC
·lfdecentralizedtrust.org·
Open source software and central bank digital currency
Reserve Bank of Australia Project Acacia WCBDC Update
Reserve Bank of Australia Project Acacia WCBDC Update

The Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC), a joint enterprise of the Australian Treasury, Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), academic institutions, banks and other Australian private sector financial organizations, published an update on its wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) backed tokenized deposit experiments. There are currently about five proof-of-concept and about twenty pilot tokenization experiments being considered, and they are considering four different networks for the CBDC, one of them being public permissioned (Redbelly). On the private permissioned side, they are looking at Ethereum (or EVM-compatible), Hedera, and R3 Corda.

#Fintech#CBDC#wCBDC#Australia#Tokenization#DFC
·dfcrc.com.au·
Reserve Bank of Australia Project Acacia WCBDC Update
Bolivian central bank considering CBDC issuance
Bolivian central bank considering CBDC issuance
Banco Central de Bolivia (BCB) reportedly confirmed that it is looking into the possibility of issuing a digital boliviano at its XVIII "Monetary Policy in the Digital Age" conference. BCB President Edwin explained that technical workshops have already been held with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as part of the establishment of an operational base for a future digital version of the national currency. The main motivations would be to improve the efficiency of the payment system, promote financial inclusion and maintain monetary stability and digital sovereignty in the face of expanding interest in cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=674885951958688&rdid=aRWlAELsNdPpMCLo
#CBDC#Fintech#Bolivia#DFC
·paymentmedia.com·
Bolivian central bank considering CBDC issuance
Bank of Israel launches digital shekel technological consultation
Bank of Israel launches digital shekel technological consultation
The Bank of Israel of Israel (BOI) launched the technological consultation process for the digital shekel. Technology experts, academics, potential vendors are invited to help the BOI deepen its understanding of the technological feasibility and potential implementation of key components of the digital shekel system. It outlined six technological consultations, each focusing on a different component derived from preliminary design white paper published in March 2025; backend layer, secure transaction messages and communication, offline capabilities, payment authorization (secure containers and cryptographic key management), alias management, and fraud monitoring. Submissions are due by June 30, 2025.
#CBDC#Fintech#Israel#DFC
·boi.org.il·
Bank of Israel launches digital shekel technological consultation
70 organizations join ECB's digital euro innovation platform
70 organizations join ECB's digital euro innovation platform
The European Central Bank (ECB) launched its digital euro innovation platform, and almost seventy organizations have signed up to participate. The platform simulates the envisaged digital euro ecosystem, in which the ECB provides the technical support and infrastructure, such as an application programming interface (API), for European intermediaries to independently develop innovative digital payment features and services. Findings will be published by the ECB in a report to be published later this year. https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2025/html/ecb.pr250505~00207689f9.en.html
#CBDC#ECB#Fintech#Eurozone#Sandboxes#DFC
·ledgerinsights.com·
70 organizations join ECB's digital euro innovation platform
How will the digital euro work?
How will the digital euro work?
This article provides an overview on how a digital euro is intended to work. An examination of the prospective design features and architecture of the digital euro reveals the complexity of the project and the challenges associated with integrating the digital euro into the existing payment landscape. In order to justify the huge investments from both the Eurosystem and the private sector, a high adoption rate by users is essential. Therefore, a digital euro needs to offer a competitive advantage over existing electronic payment instruments, which could refer to the unique scope comprising online and offline transactions as well as the trust of retail customers in the Eurosystem. Hence, a convincing communication strategy is needed to convey these benefits of a digital euro. Moreover, banks and other payment service providers need to have sufficient economic incentives to distribute the digital euro to their customers and to provide acquiring services to merchants.
#CBDC#Eurozone#Fintech#DFC
·papers.ssrn.com·
How will the digital euro work?
How to Design a Public Key Infrastructure for a CBDC
How to Design a Public Key Infrastructure for a CBDC
Makan Rafiee and Lars Hupel posted a paper that discusses the design requirements for a robust and scalable Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) for Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). The authors argue that CBDC systems need dedicated PKI solutions rather than relying on existing infrastructure due to their unique security requirements. The proposed PKI design features a hierarchical certificate structure with the central bank as the trust anchor operating the Root Certificate Authority (CA). Three main certificate categories are introduced: Financial CA (for financial service providers), Hardware CA (for wallet manufacturers), and Operational CA (for central bank functions like minting and transaction validation). A key innovation is the rollover concept that addresses the challenge of certificate renewal for offline hardware wallets that may not connect to online services regularly. The solution uses a time-based approach with defined phases (ramp-up, active, and passive) to ensure continuous system operation despite regular certificate expirations. The paper emphasizes that this design accommodates the specific needs of CBDC ecosystems while maintaining high security standards and enabling seamless certificate management throughout the system's lifecycle.
#CBDC#Cryptography#Fintech#DFC
·arxiv.org·
How to Design a Public Key Infrastructure for a CBDC
Hyperledger in action: central bank digital currencies v2
Hyperledger in action: central bank digital currencies v2
The Linux Foundation published an updated report on how its open-source distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) are powering central bank digital currency (CBDC) initiatives globally. It explains the advantages of open source development for CBDC projects, emphasizing transparency, collaboration, and the adaptability of community-driven solutions. The paper also showcases projects using Hyperledger Fabric, Besu, Iroha, and other tools across various implementation stages—from research (European Central Bank, France, Norway) to pilots (India, Brazil, Philippines) to live deployments (Nigeria, Eastern Caribbean). These implementations demonstrate how open-source blockchain technologies can improve payment efficiency, enhance security, enable programmability through smart contracts, and support financial inclusion.
#CBDC#Hyperledger#OpenSource#Fintech#DFC
·linuxfoundation.org·
Hyperledger in action: central bank digital currencies v2
Assessing consumer CBDC adoption in Luxembourg: a micro-simulation approach
Assessing consumer CBDC adoption in Luxembourg: a micro-simulation approach
[January 2025] Banque Centrale du Luxembourg (BCL) published a paper that simulated consumer adoption of CBDC based on data from the 2022 Study on the Payment Attitudes of Consumers in the Euro area (SPACE) survey of payment habits. The micro-simulation classified 1% of consumers as cash-only, 22% as cash-preferring, 29% as cashless-preferring and 47% as cashless-only. Our theoretical results suggest that if CBDC is accepted by all retailers, then cashless-preferring consumers will adopt it instead of cash, but adoption by other consumers would also depend on CBDC design, cost, security and their use of credit cards. If CBDC transactions can be funded by drawing cash directly from the user’s bank payment account (i.e., via a "a waterfall" mechanism), 24% of the value of total payments will be in CBDC. If CBDC transactions can be funded via a direct link to consumer credit (e.g. drawing on the user’s credit card) 92% of total payment values will be made in CBDC.
#CBDC#Eurozone#Luxembourg#Fintech#DFC
·bcl.lu·
Assessing consumer CBDC adoption in Luxembourg: a micro-simulation approach
Survey of potential users of the digital euro: new evidence from Slovakia
Survey of potential users of the digital euro: new evidence from Slovakia
[October 12, 2024] The National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) surveyed 1200 people, asking about people’s awareness and willingness to use the digital euro. 34% of respondents have heard of the digital euro; 26% intend to use it. They found that the likelihood of its usage depends on trust in institutions such as the central bank, and preferences for cash payments, in addition to standard socio-economic factors. They also investigated whether respondent’s answers are linked to political preferences and trust in the central bank. To quote: “liberals are more inclined to consider using the digital euro, while EU skeptics are significantly less likely to do so”. The survey also reveals that privacy and transaction security are among the top concerns for potential users. The majority of respondents plan to allocate nearly 20% of their net monthly income to digital euro holdings.
#Fintech#CBDC#Eurozone#DFC#Slovakia
·nbs.sk·
Survey of potential users of the digital euro: new evidence from Slovakia
CBDCs included in the EAC Draft Cross-Border Payment System Masterplan
CBDCs included in the EAC Draft Cross-Border Payment System Masterplan
The East African Community (EAC) Draft Cross-Border Payment System Masterplan was validated by its eight member countries (Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania). The Masterplan aims to enhance the speed, security, affordability and integration of payment systems across the region. It tackles key obstacles such as fragmented regulations, high transaction costs, and limited interoperability by outlining twenty targeted initiatives. These include a regional instant retail payment switch, and exploring using central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) for regional transactions.
#CBDC#Fintech#CrossBorder#Payments#FastPayments#DFC#EastAfricanCommunity
·eac.int·
CBDCs included in the EAC Draft Cross-Border Payment System Masterplan
Nigeria, China to sign digital currency deal to reduce dollar reliance
Nigeria, China to sign digital currency deal to reduce dollar reliance
Nigeria will reportedly sign a deal to enable a direct conversion of naira to digital renminbi (RMB) according to Nigeria-China Strategic Partnership (NCSP) Director-General Joseph Tegbehas. Speaking at a conference in Lagos, he said the agreement could reduce Nigeria’s dependence on the United States dollar. The NCSP jointly established ivy the Chinese and Nigerian governments in November 2024 under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu following agreements reached with President Xi Jinping at FOCAC 2024, aiming to deepen economic, trade, and investment relations between the two nations. It serves facilitate high-impact partnerships that align with Nigeria’s development priorities and China’s Belt and Road Initiative. But there has not yet been an announcement on the NCSP website regarding the RMB deal. https://ncsp.gov.ng/ [
#CBDC#Nigeria#China#CrossBorder#Fintech#DFC
·vanguardngr.com·
Nigeria, China to sign digital currency deal to reduce dollar reliance
Majority of Dutch consumers willing to use digital euro
Majority of Dutch consumers willing to use digital euro
De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) surveyed 2,000 Dutch consumers to find out whether they would be willing to use an offline-digital euro (D€) that was as private as cash (funds are stored locally and no third party involved in a payment). Participants were randomly allocated funds to allocate across cash, debit cards and D€ for household expenses over a month. Two-thirds used at least some of the D€, with 75% of non-users not seeing any added value in it, plus 55% expressing unfamiliarity with it, and 48% a lack of trust in it. 25% of non-users cited privacy concerns. Only 28% of users said that the extra privacy of an offline D€ was a reason for using the D€. Also, half the participants were told there was a 50% that their debit cards would be nonfunctional over the month. Those in this group chose to keep not only more cash but also more D€ in their wallets. Also, 42% of participants said they would prefer to keep their D€ on a payment card; 33% would prefer an app and 26% have no preference. https://www.dnb.nl/media/vbrkbg4x/dnb-os-a5-holding-limieten-digitale-euro.pdf
#CBDC#Eurozone#Netherlands#Fintech#Offline#DFC
·dnb.nl·
Majority of Dutch consumers willing to use digital euro
BEAC requests IMF CBDC technical assistance
BEAC requests IMF CBDC technical assistance
[March 11, 2025] Banque des États de l'Afrique Centrale (BEAC) has requested IMF technical assistance to explore the feasibility of introducing a central bank digital currency (CBDC). BEAC serves six central African countries which form the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC - Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo) all of whom use the CFA franc which is pegged to the euro (€1 = CFA 655.957). The BEAC has set up a CBDC working group that will coordinate with the other subregional institutions with the aim of developing a coherent and appropriate regulatory framework to monitor and manage the new risks associated with the emergence of digital payment methods.
#Fintech#CBDC#DFC#CEMAC
·imf.org·
BEAC requests IMF CBDC technical assistance
Haitian central bank puts CBDC work on the back burner
Haitian central bank puts CBDC work on the back burner
[December 10, 2024] The Bank of the Republic of Haiti (BRH) conveyed to IMF staff, in the context of its 2024 Article IV consultation, that it does not plan to immediately implement central bank digital currency (CBDC). However, it stressed the importance of having put a placeholder in the central bank framework, in anticipation of future implementation. IMF staff argued that devoting time and resources to considering a digital money is premature at this stage, given other pending priorities and indicated that if the BRH decides to proceed it should consider all aspects of the project’s desirability and feasibility, including a robust evaluation of costs and risks, before proceeding.
#Fintech#CBDC#Haiti#DFC
·imf.org·
Haitian central bank puts CBDC work on the back burner
Kyrgz central bank granted right to issue digital som
Kyrgz central bank granted right to issue digital som
Kyrgyz Republic President Sadyr Japarov signed the constitutional law that will enable the country's central bank to launch a digital som pilot project and create a legal basis for the central bank digital currency (CBDC). The law was adopted by the Parliament on March 20, 2025. The law defines the digital som as the national currency of the Kyrgyz Republic in digital form, which is legal tender in the country. The central bank is granted the exclusive right to issue the digital som, and will establish the procedure for its issue and circulation, as well as organize and ensure functioning of the digital som platform.
#CBDC#Kyrgyzstan#Fintech#DFC
·24.kg·
Kyrgz central bank granted right to issue digital som
Belarus to introduce digital ruble in H2 2026 - NBB
Belarus to introduce digital ruble in H2 2026 - NBB
The National Bank of Belarus (NBB) reportedly plans to launch a digital ruble in the second half of 2026, starting with "economic agents" and expanding to government agencies and individuals in 2027. The central bank is cooperating very closely with Russian central bank and its central bank digital currency (CBDC) efforts to facilitate digital ruble cross-border transactions. Also, the NBB is working closely with government authorities to ensure that CBDC transactions can be tracked along the entire chain.
#Belarus#CBDC#Fintech#DFC
·interfax.com·
Belarus to introduce digital ruble in H2 2026 - NBB
Kyrgyz central bank advances digital som experiments
Kyrgyz central bank advances digital som experiments
[November 20, 2024] The National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic (NBK) convened a meeting with the relevant ministries and agencies of the Kyrgyz Republic to discuss Phase II of the project for testing the prototype of the Digital Som platform in the context of state and social payments. During the meeting, the National Bank presented a draft architecture for the implementation of the "Balaga Suyunchu" (a one-time payment upon the birth of a child) project on the Digital Som platform. An agreement was reached to continue joint implementation of the project with technical specialists.
#Kyrgyzstan#Fintech#CBDC#DFC
·nbkr.kg·
Kyrgyz central bank advances digital som experiments
China links CBDC payments to 10 ASEAN, 6 Middle eastern countries
China links CBDC payments to 10 ASEAN, 6 Middle eastern countries

According to Nigerian news outlet Proshare, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has announced that its digital RMB cross-border settlement system will be fully connected to the ten ASEAN nations and six Middle Eastern countries. Needless to say, the crypto press took the ball and ran with it, some even saying that the full-scale launch had taken place on exactly March 17, 2025. However, this is likely fake news based on cobbling together disparate stories from over the last few years, like those around the ongoing mBridge proof-of-concept project. https://www.ledgerinsights.com/fake-news-china-links-cbdc-payments-to-10-asean-6-middle-eastern-countries/ https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7316086740497195008/

#CBDC#China#CrossBorder#Fintech#Payments#wCBDC#FakeNews#DFC
·proshare.co·
China links CBDC payments to 10 ASEAN, 6 Middle eastern countries
Support for Brazil's Drex WCBDC reportedly waning
Support for Brazil's Drex WCBDC reportedly waning
Valor Economico is reporting that some of the firms involved in the Banco Central do Brasil Drex (BCB) wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) project are reducing resource commitments to it. This is reportedly due to frustrations with the BCB's privacy requirements to hide transaction data from all the banks involved except the one that is executing it, while allowing the BCB to see everything and be able to reverse transaction with a court order to that effect. All this must be achieved without harming the digital currency's programmability and composability allowed by its distributed ledger technology (DLT) based platform.
#Brazil#CBDC#Fintech#wCBDC#DFC
·valor.globo.com·
Support for Brazil's Drex WCBDC reportedly waning
Digital Pound accepting applications
Digital Pound accepting applications
The Bank of England (BOE) is now accepting applications to conduct hands-on experimentation to explore the feasibility of different digital pound (DP) use cases in a simulated environment (no real customers or real money payments will be involved). Its goals include assessing the viability of potential business models for payment interface providers (PIPs) and external service Interface providers (ESIPs), and assessing the requirements necessary for a DP to provide a platform for innovation. The Lab is expected to run from August 2025 to July 2026, during which there will be two phases (see below). Applications are open to all private and public sector companies and organisations from technology, payments, banking, retail and other relevant sectors.
#CBDC#Fintech#Sandboxes#UnitedKingdom#DFC
·bankofengland.co.uk·
Digital Pound accepting applications
Digital pound experiment report: Offline payments
Digital pound experiment report: Offline payments
The Bank of England (BOE) published a report on their project aimed to assess whether it is technically feasible to implement an offline payment functionality for a digital pound. The project confirmed the technical feasibility, there are trade-offs, particularly around user experience and preventing double spending and counterfeiting, that make implementing it challenging. It showed that there are several technology choices that could be made for offline payments today, but those are dependent on policy choices, such as risk appetite, product proposition and liability, which impact the options available for mitigating security risks.
#CBDC#Offline#UnitedKingdom#Fintech#DFC
·bankofengland.co.uk·
Digital pound experiment report: Offline payments
Digital pound design note – Intermediary roles and scheme rulebook
Digital pound design note – Intermediary roles and scheme rulebook
The Bank of England (BOE) published an an overview of its initial thinking and work on the potential roles and responsibilities of digital pound (DP) intermediaries and a preliminary conceptual framework for a DP rulebook (or similar document) aimed at facilitating the proper management of the DP were one to be launched. It includes five broad elements; (I) the key participants in the DP ecosystem, (ii) the governance and oversight of the DP payment system, (iii) intermediaries' obligations and minimum standards, (iv) the core functions intermediaries are expected to support, and (v) the governance of intermediaries.
#CBDC#UnitedKingdom#Fintech#DFC
·bankofengland.co.uk·
Digital pound design note – Intermediary roles and scheme rulebook
ECB publishes progress report on digital euro rulebook
ECB publishes progress report on digital euro rulebook
The European Central Bank (ECB) published the fourth update on the work of the digital euro Rulebook Development Group (RDG) in developing a draft digital euro scheme rulebook. The draft rulebook sections have been updated to reflect more than 2,000 comments received as part of the RDG’s interim review in 2024. The report also provides an update on the RDG workstreams since the last update published in September 2024.
#CBDC#ECB#Eurozone#Fintech#DFC
·ecb.europa.eu·
ECB publishes progress report on digital euro rulebook
Offline Payments Based on a Trusted Platform Module
Offline Payments Based on a Trusted Platform Module
The Journal of Cybersecurity published a paper that proposes a secure offline payment model utilizing a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) to enhance the security of digital currency transactions. Additionally, the monotonic counter, the basic component of the TPM, is integrated into this model to prevent double spending in a completely offline environment. The research presents a protocol model that combines these easily implementable technologies to facilitate the efficient processing of transactions entirely offline. However, it is crucial to acknowledge the security implications associated with the TPMs and near-field communications upon which this protocol relies.
#CBDC#Fintech#Offline#Payments#DFC
·mdpi.com·
Offline Payments Based on a Trusted Platform Module
The CBDC veil is lifted: what the digital euro is really about
The CBDC veil is lifted: what the digital euro is really about
Noelle Acheson published an article that discusses the European Central Bank's (ECB) digital euro initiative and its underlying motivations. It highlights how the ECB initially presented the digital euro as a response to consumer demand for a pan-European digital payment platform, but later, the focus shifted to concerns about the dominance of US and Chinese payment platforms in Europe. The article points out that the ECB's push for a digital euro is driven by a fear of losing demand for the euro to dollar-backed stablecoins and a lack of confidence in European banks' ability to compete. It concludes that the ECB's actions reveal a deeper issue: a recognition of the entrenched divisions within the European banking system and a move towards increased public control of commercial marketplaces.
#CBDC#Eurozone#ECB#Fintech#DFC#Stablecoins
·medium.com·
The CBDC veil is lifted: what the digital euro is really about