The adoption of digital currencies is growing around the world. According to a new tracking by the Geoeconomic Center of the Atlantic Council, there are currently 105 countries developing their own CBDC.
CBDCs are classified as digital currencies issued by central banks. According to the tracker, countries working on CBDCs account for 95% of the world’s GDP.
Among the 105 CBDC projects in development worldwide, 50 of them are in advanced stages of launch or testing. In addition, the tracker states that ten countries have officially launched their digital currency, like China, for example.
In the Asian country, 140 million people have already tested the pilot project of the digital yuan, a CBDC controlled by the Central Bank of China. Seemingly, the Chinese digital currency is expected to expand its presence in the financial market by 2023.
Digital Currencies in the G20
In addition to China, other countries are developing their digital currencies. In the G20, the adoption of CBDCs is promising, and most of the countries that are part of the group are working on projects similar to the digital yuan.
In the world’s 20 richest countries (G20) group, 19 countries plan to launch a digital currency on the market, such as Japan, India, Russia, and South Korea. According to the tracker’s survey, most of the G20 CBDCs projects are in the development and or testing phase.
India, for example, plans to adopt a gradual integration of CBDC into the economy, as does China. In addition, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is developing the digital rupee, which could be launched as early as 2022.
The Geoeconomic Center of the Atlantic Council shows that there are 10 CBDCs launched globally, as well as 15 projects in the pilot testing phase. Another 24 are in the development stage, with 43 countries researching how to create their digital currency.
There are also ten inactive CBDC projects in the world that have not received any updates. Finally, the report points out that Senegal and Ecuador have abandoned the idea of creating a central bank-controlled digital currency project.
