The Race to the First Central Bank Digital Currency

The Breakdown

Blockworks

Business, Investing

4.8 • 806 Ratings

🗓️ 12 April 2022

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, Arculus and FTX US. According to the Biden administration, more than 100 countries worldwide are working on central bank digital currencies. On today’s episode, NLW does a survey of the places that are farthest along and looks at the great power competition between China, Europe and the U.S. around CBDCs. - From cash to crypto in no time with Nexo. Invest in hot coins and swap between exclusive pairs for cash back, earn up to 17% interest on your idle crypto assets and borrow against them for instant liquidity. Simple and secure. Head on to nexo.io and get started now. - Arculus™ is the next-gen cold storage wallet for your crypto. The sleek, metal Arculus Key™ Card authenticates with the Arculus Wallet™ App, providing a simpler, safer and more secure solution to store, send, receive, buy and swap your crypto. Buy now at amazon.com. - FTX US is the safe, regulated way to buy Bitcoin, ETH, SOL and other digital assets. Trade crypto with up to 85% lower fees than top competitors and trade ETH and SOL NFTs with no gas fees and subsidized gas on withdrawals. Sign up at FTX.US today. - Consensus 2022, the industry’s most influential event, is happening June 9–12 in Austin, Texas. If you’re looking to immerse yourself in the fast-moving world of crypto, Web 3 and NFTs, this is the festival experience for you. Use code BREAKDOWN to get 15% off your pass at www.coindesk.com/consensus2022. - “The Breakdown” is written, produced by and features Nathaniel Whittemore aka NLW, with today’s editing by Eleanor Pahl and Rob Mitchell, research by Scott Hill and additional production support by Eleanor Pahl. Adam B. Levine is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. The music you heard today behind our sponsor is “I Don't Know How To Explain It” by Aaron Sprinkle. Image credit: Francesco Carta fotografo/Getty Images, modified by CoinDesk. Join the discussion at discord.gg/VrKRrfKCz8.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome back to The Breakdown with me, NLW.
0:09.1	It's a daily podcast on macro, Bitcoin, and the big picture power shifts remaking our world.
0:15.0	The breakdown is sponsored by nexo.io, Arculus, and FtX, and produced and distributed by CoinDesk.
0:22.8	What's going on, guys? It is Monday, April 11th, and today we are doing a little check-in on the state of
0:28.5	central bank digital currencies. Before we get into that, however, if you are enjoying the breakdown,
0:33.8	please go subscribe to it wherever you listen to podcasts, give it a rating, give it a review,
0:38.5	or if you want to get deeper into the conversation, come join us on the Breakers Discord.
0:43.4	You can find a link in the show notes or go to bit.ly slash breakdown pod.
0:47.8	So I'm doing shows a little bit in advance right now because I'm going to be traveling a bit
0:52.0	around this weekend. And I thought it would be useful to do an episode on a topic that is always lurking, just as a kind of gut check about where
0:58.8	things are. At this point, I'm sure you are well familiar with central bank digital currencies.
1:03.6	These are effectively digital fiats. They would be integrated with a country's existing money
1:08.6	system, and so while maybe sharing some of the same
1:11.5	technology as cryptocurrencies are something very, very different.
1:15.4	At a high level, more than 100 countries, according to the Biden administration, are currently
1:20.0	experimenting with CBDCs. The vast majority are in initial research phases, not full-on trials.
1:27.2	In fact, only a couple of countries around the
1:28.8	world have actually launched their CBDC. In Nigeria, the E Naira launched on October 25th of last year.
1:35.9	Nigeria is a country of 200 million people, with an economy that has a GDP of 375 billion,
1:41.7	which is about the same size as Ireland or Israel. Now, there was some weirdness,
1:45.9	frankly, around the E Naira launch. It was pitched as allowing, quote, Africa's most populous nation
1:50.6	to experience the full benefits of the global digital economy. But when the launch press conference
	...

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