Top German banking institution Deutsche Bank’s research arm has predicted that Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) are going to replace cash in the near future. The revelation was first posted in a report on Economic Estimations and Proposals to Assist Global Economies titled “What We Must do to Rebuild”. The report was published on November 10, 2020.
According to the publicly available contents of the report from the German bank, the Covid-19 crisis has devastated cash-based systems around the world and accelerated the digital cash revolution more than anything else in recent times. Many countries are working on centrally launched CBDCs with Chinese Digital Yuan or Swedish e-Krona expected to be available to the masses soon enough. The Bank’s research arm then implores the governments and and private companies to eventually work towards an alternative to the wasteful and inefficient credit card system currently in place.
The report stated:
Worldwide lockdowns and social distancing measures have only increased the use of cards over cash. To respond, companies and policymakers must design alternative to credit cards and remove middle man fees. […] For now, the priority must be on regional digital payment systems. In the long term, central bank digital currencies will replace cash.”
The German bank also warned against the consequences of losing this digital currency race as it would give space for the Digital Yuan and non-EU Swedish Krona to succeed in the immediate future. Both of the CBDCs are in late development phases and the Chinese one in particular might become available sooner than ever. According to the report, if the countries do not develop these central digital currencies on their own, they might risk letting their businesses to adopt a foreign country’s CBDC-based system as the payment medium.
The report then urges the EU to come up with a digital version of the Euro to help solidify it in the existing geopolitical situation especially when EU is appearing weaker than ever because of Brexit and other major challenges. An independent European payment solution is also touted as a necessary target for the EU in the face of American monopoly.
CBDCs are now under extensive scrutiny as their development and deployment increases around the world. There are some countries like China and Sweden that are leading the race for CBDCs but many other nations are skeptical about its actual need. Japan and the United States are not appearing to be super-keen on the idea and have actually slowed down any process to study and develop these national digital currencies.
Image source under CC: gravitat-off
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