Government interest in CBDCS was a knee-jerk reaction to the popularity of crypto and the rise of private stablecoins.
Active central bank digital currencies may be farther away than many think, as a number of factors — including their alleged threat to privacy — hinder growth.
As cryptocurrencies grew more popular, governments worldwide have brought their own vision of digital currency forward in the form of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
China was among the first countries to start research on CBDCs as early as 2014. As of May 2020, 42 countries had started CBDC projects. Since then, dozens of others have started some form of research and development on a CBDC.
