Payments
How Afghanistan’s central bank can help prevent famine
Rules could be devised to allow the New York Fed to ease the acute US dollar banknotes shortage, writes Warren Coats
Diem confirms sale of stablecoin technology
Facebook-backed project sold its last remaining assets to Silvergate Capital
Facebook-backed stablecoin project to wind down, report says
Project formerly known as Libra had struggled to gain regulatory approval
BIS unveils 2022 programmes for innovation hubs
Focus is on CBDC, payments, DeFi, green finance, and first projects in London and Stockholm
Experts divided over Fed’s ‘intermediated’ approach to CBDC
Observers praise the Fed’s conservative pace but criticise aspects of its hypothetical system design
Visa and ConsenSys launch plan to bridge CBDCs and traditional payments
Payments giant and fintech firm to develop “on-ramp” to link up existing and new systems
No ‘convincing case’ for UK retail CBDC, say legislators
Report warns of potential “significant challenges” for financial stability and privacy posed by CBDC
Japan launches Oceania CBDC study
Fintech firm Soramitsu will examine outlook for digital currencies in four Pacific island states
ECCB digital currency suffers outage
Eastern Caribbean’s DCash disrupted by unspecified “technical issue”
Bolivian authorities implement crypto ban
Central bank will enforce 2020 measure banishing virtual assets from payments system
Inside the Bank of Israel’s emergency cash supply exercises
Amir Safranovich and Meir Bitton describe how the central bank ensures the financial system is always ready in case of an emergency
BIS-SNB project links wholesale CBDC to core banking system
Project Helvetia’s second phase demonstrates integration of DLT with standard systems is possible
Bahamas prepares to phase out cheque payments
Central Bank of the Bahamas continues to push digital transformation
Cyber security risks rose most in the past year
Operational and market risks also increased
Joint CBDC project highlights promise of interoperability
Banque de France, HSBC and IBM find different technologies can still work together
RBI launches offline digital payments
Indian central bank hopes scheme will promote digital payments in remote areas
Jamaica prepares for national CBDC launch
Country is in the vanguard of digital currencies as it begins its national launch this quarter
Mexican government announces CBDC for 2024
Bank of Mexico has yet to comment publicly on the initiative
2021: The year in review
The year has seen central banks switch from recovery mode to battling inflation. Central Banking looks back at the stories that made the biggest impact in 2021
Bank Indonesia launches fast payments system
Central bank is conducting an overhaul of all its main payments systems
How to solve the payments privacy paradox
Anonymous CBDC has major drawbacks, but privacy in payments can still work, says Dave Birch
Brazilian Senate passes new FX law
Central bank will regulate foreign currency accounts under law now on president’s desk
Podcast: an update on the e-naira project
Bitt’s Imran Khan explains how its project in Nigeria is different to CBDC projects launched before
Cash: important for a fairer economy
One interesting economic story over the past year has been the growth in grassroots support for cash payments. Against the backdrop of the Covid‑19 pandemic and now debunked rumours that coins and banknotes could be significant transmission vectors for…