The Bank of Canada, Bank of England, Bank of Japan, European Central Bank, Sveriges Riksbank and Swiss National Bank, together with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) have created a group to share experiences as they assess the potential cases for Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in their home jurisdictions.
In a press release, the BIS said the group would assess CBDC use cases; economic, functional and technical design choices, including cross-border interoperability; and the sharing of knowledge on emerging technologies.
The group is also expected to closely coordinate with the relevant institutions and forums – in particular, the Financial Stability Board and the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI).
It will be co-chaired by BOE deputy governor, Jon Cunliffe, and a former-ECB official, Benoit Coeure — now head of the BIS’s innovation hub.
The debate around a digital currency backed by central banks intensified last year when BOE Governor, Mark Carney, laid out a radical proposal for an overhaul of the global financial system that would eventually replace the dollar as a reserve currency with a Libra-like virtual one.
