(AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE) – Digital euros, yuan and dollars?
Faced with increased popularity for the cryptocurrency bitcoin, as well as for online payments during the pandemic, central banks are exploring new units of their own.
Outlined below is an examination of how central bank digital currencies could resemble and differ from cryptocurrencies and “stablecoin” projects like Facebook-backed Diem.
What are central banks doing?
With the backing of Europe’s biggest economy Germany, the European Central Bank (ECB) is mulling over a digital euro that could be guaranteed by the central bank, in turn potentially offering greater security than by commercial banks. The ECB has spoken also about the possibility one day of central bank personal payment cards and accounts being linked to a digital euro.
A formal decision on how to proceed is expected this year following consultations amid European concerns around privacy protection.
Issuing and transferring digital euros could be done using technology similar to the blockchain ledger on which cryptocurrencies such as the bitcoin…
