The Reserve Bank of Australia has revealed that it is continuing to research a central bank digital currency (CBDC) less than a month after stating that there was no need for one. The central bank also revealed it is considering the possibility of a more targeted “wholesale” CBDC. The Head of Payments Policy at the central bank said that the bank would continue to consider the case for a CBDC, including how it might be designed, the potential benefits and policy implications, and the conditions in which significant demand for a CBDC might emerge.
The Reserve Bank of Australia is highly skeptical of CBDCs.
As reported earlier, the central bank of Australia was highly skeptical and did not believe there was a strong policy case for issuing a CBDC at the time. Richards added that the public policy case for issuing a general-purpose or retail CBDC in Australia is still to be made. The Head of Payments Policy further added that while Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are based on public blockchains, this would not necessarily be the case for a CBDC, which may be developed using a permissioned and centralized digital ledger.
Central banks continue to explore CBDCs.
As reported earlier, the Bank of Japan said it would conduct the first phase of experiments on basic functions core to CBDCs, such as issuance and distribution, early in the fiscal year beginning in April 2021. Central banks worldwide have expressed interest in CBDCs, and many of them are working actively on the same. The People’s Bank of China is all set to become the first major nation to launch its national digital currency. As reported earlier, the Bank for International Standards revealed that CBDC was more searched than bitcoin and Libra this year.
