So far, Central Bank Digital Currencies have failed

Abstract

This article examines the experiences of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) implemented so far. To date, CBDCs have been implemented in two countries (Finland and Ecuador) where they have failed and been abandoned. They have also been implemented in three Caribbean cases and in China and Nigeria; these five cases are ongoing. These experiences can be summarised as a series of abandoned experiments, embarrassing flops and monumental exercises in policymaker hubris, one of which has already produced a major disaster. In each case where data exist to assess the situation, the public demand for CBDCs has been extremely low. Experience suggests that CBDCs do not offer tangible benefits which existing alternatives cannot already deliver. One might speculate that future CBDCs will fail for similar reasons.