Germany’s central bank is working on a blockchain project, but it's not a CBDC
Bundesbank seems to be coyly flirting with blockchain technology. According to a public notice published in the Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union, Ocean Protocol, a Singaporean non-profit foundation, was hired to create a decentralized network for Germany's Bundesbank.The central bank said that the Ocean protocol, which is a project of relatively limited renown, was chosen mostly because they were the only possible contractor for the job, citing a “lack of comparable competitors.”Bundesbank detailed in its public notice that the main purpose of the project is to set....
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While a number of countries are working on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), on Tuesday, the Bank of Jamaica (BoJ) announced it will soon be piloting a CBDC project. The BoJ is working with a firm called Ecurrency Mint Incorporated and plans to pilot the cryptocurrency in May. Jamaican CBDC to Pilot this May Jamaica, the island country situated in the Caribbean Sea has plans to pilot a CBDC this May as it has been working with an “extensive procurement process.” The country’s central bank, the BoJ, has chosen a technology provider to help with the CBDC solution.....
Before trying to apply blockchain to anything, think why. Retail central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, do not require the use of blockchain technology, according to executives at major European central banks.Thomas Moser, an alternate member of the governing board at Swiss National Bank, and Deutsche Bundesbank’s Martin Diehl discussed the state of CBDCs at the European Blockchain Convention Virtual 2020 conference on Monday.During the online panel discussion, both Diehl and Moser seemed to agree that global retail CBDC projects do not need blockchain, citing a number of reasons.Moser....
The Bank of England's CBDC-related job listings range from solution architect to senior manager. The United Kingdom’s central bank, the Bank of England, or BoE, still maintains that it is unsure on a path forward regarding a central bank digital currency, although the entity is looking to hire at least seven CBDC-related job positions. The job listings recently surfaced on the BoE’s job posting website. One such position searches for a “Stakeholder Analyst - Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).” As per the site, the bank is also searching for a project analyst, a solution architect, a....
According to Patrick Njoroge, the governor of the Kenyan central bank, the significant number of non-smartphones that are in use in Kenya means launching a central bank digital currency (CBDC) now may be premature and could lead to many citizens being financially excluded.
Central Bank Mulls Delaying CBDC Rollout
The governor of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), Patrick Njoroge, has suggested the lack of access to smartphones of more than half of Kenya’s mobile phone users is working against its plan to launch a CBDC. He warned the central bank may be forced to delay its....
For Germany’s central bank, blockchain has proven to be a promising – if not somewhat complicated – technology. In late November, the Deutsche Bundesbank announced that it was working with exchange operator Deutsche Börse on a securities trading trial, using blockchain as a means of exchanging digitized securities, while also creating a record of those transactions. At the time, the central bank described the test as "purely a conceptual study". New comments from Bundesbank executive board member Carl-Ludwig Thiele have shined a light on some of the results from that test. Thiele....