By George Ward
The concept and evolution of CBDC have been of significant interest to citizens in most countries. Essentially, the intent is to convert all modes of monetary operations to cashless policy and to create a national digital currency.
Some countries have already implemented CBDCs, while others are developing them. Nigeria is among those countries that have developed a keen interest in the use of digital currencies. However, a recent report reveals why most private stakeholders disagree with owning CBDCs.
According to BlockData, a blockchain Insights firm, several positive factors are associated with the development of CBDCs. It also explained why private firms need to adopt the idea.
A central reference in the report is stablecoin issuer Circle’s opinion on CBDCs. The USDC issuer says that if authorities permit private sectors to build national digital currencies, these national digital currencies will be a substantial asset to the nation’s economy.
Other sectors have also shared their perspectives regarding CBDC development, outlined in the BlockData report. For example, according to the American Banking Association (ABA), a CBDC issued by the US Federal Reserve has no compelling use cases and could adversely affect the banking system.
In addition, the ABA opined that the issuance of a CBDC would significantly affect the responsibilities of the US Federal Reserves. However, it suggested that the issuance of national digital currencies be left to private sectors.
Major Concerns Of Stakeholders
Following the reports, Stakeholders outline why authorities shouldn’t allow the idea of owning a CBDC. They based their reasoning on security, interoperability, privacy, anonymity, the technical structure, and alignment of the CBDC design with central bank policy.
During a speech at the last central bank annual meeting, Perry Warjiyo, Bank of Indonesia’s Governor, highlighted new developments in its digital currency project. He stated that it would be integrated with other countries’ CBDCs.
Furthermore, Pakistan aims to launch its own CBDC by 2025 and has released relevant laws to speed up the process. With the assistance of the World Bank, the State Bank of Pakistan enacted these laws for electronic money implementation.