Sveriges Riksbank researchers argue that “all CBDC payments will involve reconciliation with one or more remote ledgers” that track the transactions and ownership to prevent double-spends. This requirement—according to the bank—should squash the hopes for a cash-like anonymous digital currency.
The announcement comes in the wake of reports last week that prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government plans to pass a “Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill” that establishes a legal framework for a CBDC while banning private cryptocurrencies—although certain exceptions would be made for tokens used by blockchain projects.
The digital yuan’s highest profile tests began in Shenzhen in September, when city officials held a lottery, giving away $1.5 million in 50,000 in “digital red envelopes” containing 200 yuan—about $30—usable at 4,000 merchants who signed up to accept the digital yuan. That and subsequent tests have been called wildly successful by People’s Bank of China Governor Yi gang.
Arguing that “Bitcoin is neutral like cash,” Gladstein said “Most Americans may not yet grasp that financial privacy is just as important as communications privacy for our democracy—that your spending habits say more about you than your words.”
