«The Central Bank Digital Coins (CBDC) have been in the mouth of almost all bankers in the world for several years, but so far few have dared to launch one,» observes the introduction of a report published by the Official Forum of Monetary Institutions and Financial (OMFIF) that prepared to investigate the reasons for the delay.
According to the document that was released this February 11, most central banks have been delaying their research schedules and pilot tests, showing signs of a «clear indecision» regarding the subject.
To know the causes of the delay, the OMFIF conducted a survey among the more than 100 banks that have expressed intentions to issue this type of currencies, detecting that many of them are still willing to move forward with the plan.
However, they notice that the vast majority of them are backing their broadcast plans and there is a significant increase in banks that now say they are less willing to launch CBDC.
In this way, the percentage of entities that claim to have lost interest in CBDC passed zero in 2022 15% in 2024, while more than 30% postpone its issuance deadlines. This is due to a variety of reasons that include the economic situation they experience and the lack of political will.
In fact, almost half of the banks that planned to make fast releases (within 3 to 5 years) are making extensions in their calendar. They point out, therefore, that the percentage of central banks inclined to issue a CBDC constantly decreases.
«Only 18% declare themselves more inclined to issue a CBDC than the previous year, compared to 38% of 2022. which reflects in an increase of those that are less willing to make launches«.
The two main reasons why central banks postpone their issuance deadlines are the legislation and exploration of a broader range of other payment solutions, explains the agency.
One of the respondents announced that it will reduce their efforts in CBDC research to «focus on other issues related to payments», while another explained that «we have concluded that we need to advance more in terms of regulations and market development of payments ».
Omfic report on CBDC.
All this happens in a scenario where the vast majority of the world’s central banks had made public their interest in this type of currency, as a way To modernize your payment system.
As Cryptonoticia has reported, at the beginning of this year they were counted 134 countries around the world that had been advancing in the development of their digital currencies of Central Banco.
Banks fear the rejection of the public
By the end of 2024 the record of 44 ongoing pilot projectsThe more than 68 projects are in an advanced exploration phase, in development stages, in pilot test or launch.
In these groups, the advances for the launch of the digital euro of Europe and the Yuan Digital of China stand out, according to the statistics published by the CBDC tracker, cbdctracker.org.
In that sense, the non -specific OMFIF report which of all the projects underway have been delayed or paralyzed. However, it includes some declarations of bankers that manifest the elements that explain their doubts.
«The low adoption as a problem is even more worrying, so we are involving the market from the beginning to help mature the platform,» said Fabio Araujo, senior advisor to the Central Bank of Brazil, which carries out the DREX project.
This refers to The lack of interest that users show In almost all countries that have CBDC projects. The rejection of this type of currencies has been extended to everyone, seeing them as a mechanism for controlling states.
This situation draws the attention of Alexandra Hachmeister, general director of the digital euro at the Deutsche Bundesbank in Germany, who acknowledges that it will be a «huge and difficult communication task» face the ideas of the public.
The United States already step back
The OMFIF report is presented in a context where the Donald Trump government issued an executive order that prohibits the launch of a CBDC in its country.
The president expresses his opposition to this type of currencies, in line with the positions they have stated A large number of US politicians and legislators.including members of the Bitcoin ecosystem (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies.
The country leaves many of the international projects in which it had been working and this decision possibly influences the delays mentioned by the OMFIF, an organization in which an important group of bank experts around the world participates.
That is why, as part of the report – a call to the central banks to action is called.
«Inaction regarding the issuance of CBDC can have as many consequences as the action,» concludes the agency, insisting on the need to launch these currencies in order to «modernize the payment system and prevent it from lagging behind.»
And although reference is not made to cryptocurrencies, it is known that one of the digital systems that He is removing space To the Central Bank coins is Bitcoin.