Fear of stablecoins grows and gives new impetus to CBDCs

In 2019, when Facebook announced the launch of Libra (later renamed Diem) it did not imagine the impact its announcement would cause. And although the stablecoin project never saw the light of day, the consequences of the fear that the announcement generated among rulers around the world are still present.

It is these fears that make most central banks move forward with their central bank digital currency (CBDC) projects, despite the questions being raised. That is why, far from disappearing, the interest of governments in their development does not stop growingbut now with a new approach.

This is stated in the most recent survey by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) carried out among 86 central banks around the world, 28 of them located in the most developed countries.

According to the results of the study – published this June 14 – plans to launch a CBDC already include 94% of central banks, whose main motivation is Countering public interest in stablecoins and cryptocurrencies like bitcoin (BTC).

“More than half of the central banks that responded to the survey (63%) said they had accelerated their work on CBDCs in reaction to the evolution of stablecoins and other cryptoassets,” the report notes.

He adds that fears about the way stablecoins can affect “the security and stability of payment systems” are still present among bankers, who believe that the widespread use of this type of currency will end up affecting them in the future. This, even though they point out that, so far, the volumes of payments with stable currencies in their countries “are insignificant.”

Thus, fear of stablecoins seems to be a constant in the banks surveyed, prompting them to continuously monitor their operations and promote regulations.

The BIS survey reveals that the percentage of jurisdictions that collect data and/or study the use of stablecoins has grown substantially in recent months. Although such monitoring is not only done to evaluate its risks and propose regulations, but also to use them as input in the development of CBDCs.

Stablecoins differ from CBDCs in that they do not represent a claim on a central bank, but information on the uses and characteristics of users of stablecoins and cryptocurrencies could serve as a basis for the design of CBDCs.

BIS report.

The bankers’ idea is to obtain information about the way people use stablecoins and cryptoassets, in order to “shed light” on the possible use cases and adoption of central bank digital currencies.

In that sense, everything indicates that the banks now they are putting the focus in its use for cross-border payments, planning to incorporate them into international trade. An intention that countries like Russia and Rwanda have already made manifest.

That explains the unusual increase in interest in wholesale central bank digital currencies, which, according to the BIS, already surpass retailers. “In particular, some respondents mentioned that a wholesale CBDC could address the challenges that cross-border payments currently face, such as high costs, low speed, limited access and insufficient transparency.”

As CriptoNoticias has reported, wholesale CBDCs or wholesale They are also used for the settlement of interbank payments, also serving as a mechanism to create tokenized central bank money.

That most projects focus on wholesale CBDCs could also be related to the rain of criticism against retail CBDCs (designed for everyday payments), which are currently being questioned in various parts of the world as they are considered instruments of control. state.

The examples of Nigeria, China and the Eastern Caribbean countries, which have shown to a largely disinterested public For these currencies, they are being taken into account by bankers.