New BIS Report: Central Banks More Likely to Issue Wholesale CBDCs Ahead of Retail Versions

According to a new report by the Bank of International Settlements (BIS), the likelihood of central banks issuing a wholesale CBDC now surpasses the chances of them releasing a retail one.

The report, published on June 14, 2024, detailed findings from a survey conducted among 86 central banks between October 2023 and January 2024, found that a large majority, over 94%, are considering creating a digital version of their national currencies.

Wholesale CBDCs are meant for financial institutions, while the retail versions are for the general public. The report revealed that for retail CBDCs, most survey participants are considering features such as holding limits, offline options, zero remuneration, and interoperability. In contrast, the primary considerations for wholesale CBDCs are interoperability and programmability.

As an umbrella organization for central banks globally, the BIS’s findings underscore a significant shift toward digital currencies within the financial sector. Notably, the organization published a report in 2023 claiming that CBDCs would undergird monetary policies very soon. Since then, it has engaged in and launched multiple projects to test and evaluate the technology’s potential use cases.

Countries worldwide have been exploring the launch of CBDCs for years, with China, Nigeria, and the Bahamas being among the leaders in this pursuit. Nigeria launched its eNaira CBDC in December 2022 and subsequently released a legal framework for stablecoins and initial coin offerings (ICOs).

At the time, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) stated that stablecoins were likely to succeed as a payment option in the country. However, the new BIS Report also found that stablecoins are rarely used to facilitate payments outside the cryptocurrency industry, pointing to the limited mainstream adoption of stablecoins for everyday transactions. Moreover, the eNaira has reportedly failed to gain traction among Nigerians.

On the other hand, Yi Gang, the governor of the People’s Bank of China, stated that the e-CNY, which was launched in January 2022, has been involved in over 950 million transactions amounting to 1.8 trillion yuan, equivalent to over $250 billion as of the end of June 2023. He further mentioned the total circulation of the CBDC had reached 16.5 billion ($2.3 billion) by the end of June, accounting for about 0.16% of China’s monetary supply.

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