I keep hearing the same tired pitch about how it is all about the technology and how CBDCs are just so wonderful. Dress up a digital pig all you want but the underlying money still matters. The European Central Bank is talking about two digital euros one for the public and one for wholesale use by institutions. Most of the hype is around the retail version but apparently the one Europe “urgently needs” is wholesale. Very cute but no that is not the digital money Europe actually needs.
The wholesale rollout is pitched as a way for corporates and institutions to tap tokenisation and digital ledger finance without the supposed dangers of stablecoins and other “untested” private innovations. Instant transactions round the clock programmable smart contracts transparency traceability. In other words money that works for a digital age.
And yet what is really on offer here is a wrapped CBDC in the form of commercial bank money. That supposedly gives all the tokenised finance advantages without any of the drawbacks of stablecoins. Sorry but no Ms Isabelle banker. That is not the money Europe needs and wrapping old money in digital tinsel does not suddenly make it better.
I keep hearing the same tired pitch about how it is all about the technology and how CBDCs are just so wonderful. Dress up a digital pig all you want but the underlying money still matters. The European Central Bank is talking about two digital euros one for the public and one for wholesale use by institutions. Most of the hype is around the retail version but apparently the one Europe “urgently needs” is wholesale. Very cute but no that is not the digital money Europe actually needs.
The wholesale rollout is pitched as a way for corporates and institutions to tap tokenisation and digital ledger finance without the supposed dangers of stablecoins and other “untested” private innovations. Instant transactions round the clock programmable smart contracts transparency traceability. In other words money that works for a digital age.
And yet what is really on offer here is a wrapped CBDC in the form of commercial bank money. That supposedly gives all the tokenised finance advantages without any of the drawbacks of stablecoins. Sorry but no Ms Isabelle banker. That is not the money Europe needs and wrapping old money in digital tinsel does not suddenly make it better.