Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs): The Global Development Trends and Prospects for Use as Investment Objects

The chapter investigates the trends in Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) development and implementation around the globe, which is central banks’ response to the challenges of the financial sector digitalization. Based on a study of a host of empirical data, including data from the Bahamas, Nigeria and Jamaica, where CBDCs have been officially introduced on a full scale, the authors conducted a comparative analysis of the current dynamics of CBDCs project implementation across 116 countries and regions of the global economy. The article discusses the current state of CBDC projects, identifies the main reasons for central banks’ engagement in CBDC research and development, and reveals the factors that caused the termination of CBDC project or its status transformation in Finland, Denmark, Ecuador, Kenya, Haiti, Philippines and Singapore. A short-term perspective is, then, provided on the prospects for ‘retail’ and ‘wholesale’ CBDCs. Also substantiated by the study is the potential of central bank digital currencies as investment objects. To address central banks’ financial and investment digitalization challenges, the authors identified the basic principles for successful CBDC deployment.