Community

There is so much more to CBDCs than is stated in this article. Central Bank Digital Currencies would inherently bypass banks, lenders (that's the purpose - it owns the network). Deposits and digital money will sit in the central bank vaults with access through an app such as Venmo or maybe even a central bank app -  who cares it's a front end only. Because China is driving their e-yuan (500,000 users) other countries cannot afford to abstain. Ad DCs are networks they do not stop at geographical or currency borders. 

On the plus side, CBDCs will cut the cost of managing money and provide easier acces to 1.7 billion underbanked. But the level of intimate intelligence a govt will have on your finances in scary. They will be the ones make credit allocation decisions and, moreover, it's not impausible to imagine a govt efining you and garnishing your salary for that parking fine. But by far the most ominous threat is a cyber attack on a digital currency.  The network goes down but the banks no longer hold the cash. Lots to think about. 

Excellent discussion Patty and it's good to see how the different banks are leveraging APIs to improve their offerings. But I'm still concerned with the lack of standards for APIs and how they will be regulated, particularly in the US.