OMFIF - Digital Pound Foundation

CBDCs can help protect against surveillance capitalism

Source: OMFIF, written by Lewis McLellan Among digital privacy advocates, the launch of central bank digital currencies is often greeted with suspicion and alarm. On both sides of the Atlantic, there are concerns that CBDCs represent an opportunity for the state to obtain greater oversight over payments systems. In Europe, protesters demonstrated against a digital euro […]

CBDC platforms are revolutionising financial inclusion

Source: OMFIF, written by Koji Fusa For many of those involved in implementing central bank digital currency platforms, the goal is the same: financial inclusion. While most households can access some form of digital payments, there are still 2.5bn people globally who do not have bank accounts. Without a bank account and, subsequently, no payment history to show, credit for this population is not guaranteed and they may fall victim to […]

Multi-CBDC cross-border payments systems inch closer to reality

Source: OMFIF Improving cross-border payments is a key priority for the G20. At the 2023 Digital Monetary Institute symposium in London, Tommaso Mancini-Griffol, deputy division chief of monetary and capital markets at the International Monetary Fund, said that Libra, Facebook’s attempt at a global currency, delivered a ‘collective shock’ to the public sector. He highlighted the inadequacies of […]

Despite crypto crash, financial institutions are cautiously wading into digital assets

Source: OMFIF This year will be remembered as one of reckoning for digital assets. After years of slushy and speculative asset price growth and the spread of numerous junk cryptocurrencies, with at best dubious value, the rapid collapse of the crypto world is something many economists had expected for a long time. Yet, amid such dynamics is […]

CBDCs present new opportunities for handling disputes and fraud

Source: OMFIF, written by Neha Narula, Tadge Dryja, Muhammad Saad, Adam Oest and Sarah Xu Central bank digital currencies potentially offer, in a digital form, the advantages of central bank money: settlement finality, liquidity and integrity. However, both offline and online commerce are susceptible to fraud and other kinds of disagreements. The existing techniques for […]