A survey of 86 central banks found that the majority of respondents are involved in central bank digital currency-related work, and that uncertainty about the likelihood of issuing CBDCs in the near future is fading. He Bank for International Settlements report found that 93% of respondents were doing some type of work with CBDC. Work on retail CBDCs is further along than work on wholesale CBDCs, with almost a quarter of central banks piloting a retail CBDC.
More than 80% of central banks said they saw potential value in having both a retail CBDC and a fast payment system, “mainly because a retail CBDC has specific properties and can offer additional features,” according to the survey. The BIS researchers also concluded that there could be 15 retail and nine wholesale CBDCs circulating publicly by the end of the decade. There are currently four active retail CBDCs, located in the Bahamas, the Eastern Caribbean, Jamaica, and Nigeria.