Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) have rapidly evolved from a conceptual innovation into a critical subject of academic inquiry and policy experimentation. With over 90 % of central banks engaged in research or pilot projects, the CBDC debate has expanded across disciplines including economics, finance, law, political science, and information systems. However, the scholarly landscape remains fragmented, with limited efforts to map the intellectual structure of this growing body of research. This paper addresses that gap by conducting a bibliometric thematic analysis using bibliographic coupling and visualization techniques in VOSviewer. Based on a dataset drawn from Scopus, we identify major research clusters encompassing CBDC design and adoption, banking intermediation and financial stability, determinants of issuance, monetary policy transmission, technological architectures, and geopolitical implications. Our analysis reveals both convergence and fragmentation in the literature, with clusters reflecting optimism about efficiency and inclusion but also caution about risks to stability, privacy, and international monetary order. Building on these findings, the paper outlines future research directions, emphasizing the need for comparative analyses of national pilots, cross-border interoperability, behavioral determinants of adoption, and the systemic interplay between CBDCs, stablecoins, and cryptocurrencies.