Latam regulators show growing interest in the technology that powers cryptocurrencies. Brazil is to begin pilot tests for its CBDC this month.
Cash usage is declining and the ECB is showing an ongoing commitment to a digital euro. Will cash eventually disappear?
The IMF said Brazil's Digital Real could reap the benefits of blockchain technology and compete with privately-issued stablecoins.
Finance minister and frontrunner in Argentina presidential elections announced the digital Peso project, against crypto critics.
After Pix and Open Finance, the central bank of Brazil is closing in on the launch of Drex, its central bank digital currency.
Fighting Chinese Artificial Intelligence with lasers and American Crypto with European Central Banks
How do the Americans and the Chinese have such different ethical takes on privacy, self-sovereignty, media, and the role of government? We can trace the root cause to the DNA of the macro-organism in which individuals reside, itself built over centuries and millenia from the collective scar tissue of local human experience. But there is more to observe. The technology now being deployed in each jurisdiction -- like social credit, surveillance artificial intelligence, monitored payment rails, and central bank cryptocurrency -- will drive a software architecture into the core of our societies that reflects the current moment. And it will be nearly impossible to change! This is why *how* we democratize access to financial services matters. We must be careful about the form, because we will be stuck with it like Americans are stuck with the core banking systems from the 1970s. But the worry is not inefficiency, it is programmed social strata.
The ECB announced the results of their two year digital euro investigation. Many questions still stand. They have decided to move forward.
In Latin America, regulators have shown a growing interest in the technology that powers cryptocurrencies to promote financial inclusion.
Privacy is a running concern with potential users of a retail CBDC. BIS have announced the launch of a project to resolve them.
The issue of privacy remains fundamental in CBDC design. The AEI published a vision for a financial system with the coin as its cornerstone.