{"id":493157,"date":"2024-09-20T10:52:25","date_gmt":"2024-09-20T14:52:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.investmentexecutive.com\/?p=493157"},"modified":"2024-09-20T10:52:25","modified_gmt":"2024-09-20T14:52:25","slug":"bank-of-canada-drops-plans-to-issue-digital-currency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.investmentexecutive.com\/news\/industry-news\/bank-of-canada-drops-plans-to-issue-digital-currency\/","title":{"rendered":"Bank of Canada drops plans to issue digital currency"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Bank of Canada is ending its work on issuing a digital Canadian dollar four years after the central bank began studying the possibility.<\/p>\n
On its website, the Bank of Canada announced Thursday it was \u201cscaling down its work on a retail central bank digital currency.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bank explained the decision by saying its research work on the digital Canadian dollar was complete and other payments issues had become more pressing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe body of knowledge built over recent years will be invaluable if, at some point in the future, Canadians, through their elected representatives, decide they want or need a digital Canadian dollar,\u201d the bank’s site stated.<\/p>\n
The BoC will continue monitoring global retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) developments and publish related research, but its focus will turn to \u201cpreparing for the evolution of payments both in Canada and around the world, through policy research and analysis.\u201d<\/p>\n
That focus would \u201cinclude its payments oversight and supervision functions, policy development related to wholesale and retail payments infrastructure, as well as policy work on cross-border payments in collaboration with our central bank partners.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Bank of Canada began conducting research<\/a> on a digital currency in 2020, including examining the implications of a digital dollar on the economy and financial system, and the design features and technological approaches to providing a digital form of public money.<\/p>\n Last year, the the bank launched a public consultation<\/a> on issuing a digital currency, the results of which found that Canadians were mostly against the idea based, in part, on privacy and security concerns.<\/p>\n