Central Bank Digital Currency competitive analysis

This post starts being a pre-mortem analysis of what’s happening at the end of 2022 with the CBDC of the main economies: China, US and Europe.

This map comes from conversations about Twitter and the need to skip the 30% fee imposed by Apple and Google on their App-Stores.

The relative position of the components in the different maps helps to quickly understand the differences between the different initiatives.

To see how different CBDC are progressing, you can find information in several trackers. For instance:

Central Bank Digital Currency in China

Major events:

  • CBDC started in 2012 (research)
  • moved to proof of concept in 2020
  • moved to pilot in May 2022

Apps (*):

  • WeChat Pay (Tencent)
  • Alipay (Ant Group)

Central Bank Digital Currency in US

Major events:

  • CBDC started in September 2022 (research)

Update July 2023

July 2023: Fed launches “FedNow”:

  • FedNow is a new instant-payments service will help people pay bills on time and access their paychecks more quickly.
  • “The FedNow Service is not related to a digital currency,”
  • It “is neither a form of currency nor a step toward eliminating any form of payment, including cash.”
  • Fed says it “has made no decision on issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) and would only proceed with the issuance of a CBDC with an authorizing law.”

Central Bank Digital Currency in Europe

Major events:

  • CBDC started in October 2022 (research).

Digital currency in China: project e-CNY Vs Bitcoin

An initial comparison between e-CNY and Bitcoin, that is by the moment the more (proof of work) PoW stable crypto currency.

Right now the challenge of the crypto currencies is the ability to complete processes in seconds and attending safety requirements at the same time.

Related to safety, the use of PoW versus PoS (proof of stake) is a long discussion you can have. Right now the perception is that PoW is safer than PoS. Let’s see what happens.

Right now I finish here,

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