It's going to be a 'world' of CBDCs

Practically, every central bank in the world is testing and readying a CBDC system:

Most of the countries in fact 95% in the world are now in the process of exploring the viability of CBDC, or Central Bank Digital Currency. In fact, 11 countries have already implemented and some 50 countries are said to be in advanced stages or just in the process of implementing such a currency. Jamaica is the latest to have its own CBDC, called JamDex.

It is expected that some 20 countries the notable among them being Australia, Brazil, India, Russia and South Korea - are doing advanced pilots in CBDC. The European Central Bank is also readying for a pilot. At the same time cross border CBDC tests are also in progress both in wholesale and retail domains and may reach implementation stages soon. Projects in all the G7 countries too have reached the development stage, especially the Federal Reserve's Project Cedar, which is a wholesale cross-border project.

PROJECTS ACROSS THE WORLD

The status of CBDC projects in some of the leading economies are:

Australia is developing its eAUD, which is a joint project of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Commonwealth Bank and the ANZ Banking Group. Under the pilot program, which is in an advanced stage, use cases of the eAUD are being explored. Som 12 financial institutions and payment companies in the country are testing the CBDC.

Brazil is in advanced stages of its pilot and the country has announced that it will launch a CBDC in early 2024.

China has almost fully developed its eCNY, and is planning to include it in its currency circulation. It is reported that the e-CNY represented 0.13% of cash and reserves held by the People's Bank of China.

The Bank of Jamaica formally launched JamDex in 2022 with the stated objective of improving financial inclusion and facilitating the growth of a digital economy. The main aim is to help those people who do not have a traditional bank account through the use of a basic KYC program.