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Modern Topics
CBDCs
Central bank digital money
~25 min · 5 lessons
What you'll learn
- ✓Distinguish CBDC from crypto
Lessons
- 🏝️The Sand Dollar Heard Around the WorldOctober 2020, the Bahamas goes firstStart →
- What a CBDC Actually IsFinish the previous lesson to unlock
- Why Now?Finish the previous lesson to unlock
- Country TourFinish the previous lesson to unlock
- Final Boss: The TradeoffsFinish the previous lesson to unlock
Sources
All content is drawn from the sources below. We deliberately avoid unverified material.
- Atlantic Council CBDC TrackerAtlantic Council GeoEconomics Center · dataLive database of CBDC research, pilots, and launches across 134 countries representing 98 percent of global GDP. Source for the headline numbers in lessons 1 and 3 and the country tour in lesson 4.https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/cbdctracker/
- Working Paper No 880: The technology of retail central bank digital currencyBank for International Settlements (Auer and Boehme, 2020) · institutionalBIS WP 880. Source for the conceptual definition of a CBDC and the retail vs wholesale framing in lesson 2.https://www.bis.org/publ/work880.htm
- BIS Annual Economic Report 2021, Chapter III: CBDCs, an opportunity for the monetary systemBank for International Settlements · institutionalBacks the design tradeoff discussion in lesson 5 (privacy, disintermediation, cybersecurity, programmability) and the three flavors framing in lesson 2.https://www.bis.org/publ/arpdf/ar2021e3.htm
- A digital euro: investigation phase report (October 2021) and digital euro project pagesEuropean Central Bank · institutionalSource for the eurozone investigation timeline, holding cap discussion, privacy commitments, and preparation phase in lessons 4 and 5.https://www.ecb.europa.eu/euro/digital_euro/html/index.en.html
- The digital pound: a new form of money for households and businesses?Bank of England and HM Treasury, February 2023 · institutionalUK consultation paper. Backs the lesson 5 discussion of privacy, deposit flight, cybersecurity, and programmability concerns in retail CBDC design.https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/paper/2023/the-digital-pound-consultation-paper
- Money and Payments: The U.S. Dollar in the Age of Digital TransformationFederal Reserve Board, January 2022 · institutionalThe Fed's January 2022 discussion paper. Source for the US position before the 2025 executive order, used in lesson 4.https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/money-and-payments-discussion-paper.htm
- Project Hamilton Phase 1 Executive SummaryFederal Reserve Bank of Boston and MIT Digital Currency Initiative, February 2022 · institutionalJoint research-only project. Source for the US technical research strand mentioned in lesson 4.https://www.bostonfed.org/publications/one-time-pubs/project-hamilton-phase-1-executive-summary.aspx
- Executive Order 14178: Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology (January 23, 2025)The White House · institutionalSource for the January 2025 prohibition on a US CBDC referenced in lessons 4 and 5.https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/strengthening-american-leadership-in-digital-financial-technology/
- Progress of Research and Development of E-CNY in China (white paper)People's Bank of China, July 2021 · institutionalOfficial PBoC white paper on the e-CNY. Source for the China timeline and design in lesson 4.http://www.pbc.gov.cn/en/3688110/3688172/4157443/4293696/2021071614584691871.pdf
- Nigeria's eNaira, One Year After (Working Paper WP/23/104)International Monetary Fund (May 2023) · institutionalIMF working paper documenting the disappointing adoption of the eNaira after its October 2021 launch. Source for lesson 4.https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2023/05/12/Nigerias-eNaira-One-Year-After-533487
- Payments in Sweden 2024 (Riksbank annual payments report)Sveriges Riksbank · institutionalBacks the lesson 3 claim that cash made up around 9 percent of point-of-sale payments in Sweden by 2024.https://www.riksbank.se/en-gb/payments--cash/payments-in-sweden/
- Central Bank of The Bahamas: The Sand DollarCentral Bank of The Bahamas · institutionalOfficial Sand Dollar information from the issuing central bank. Source for the lesson 1 hook and the Bahamas entry in the lesson 4 country tour.https://www.sanddollar.bs/