Hey there, crypto enthusiasts! Here's some juicy news from the Great White North. Canada’s central bank has decided to hit the brakes on its digital loonie project and shift gears towards more research. Yep, that's right – while places like China and Nigeria are zooming ahead with their digital currency plans, Canada is taking a breather.
The project, which kicked off back in 2017, was all about exploring the idea of a digital Canadian dollar. Fast forward to 2022, they even asked the public for their two cents on the matter. But guess what? A report from November 2023 revealed that while Canadians knew about CBDCs, the majority just couldn’t wrap their heads around why they needed a digital version of their good ol' Canadian dollar.
And it gets even more interesting. When folks were surveyed online, a whopping 87% said they'd never use a digital Canadian dollar. To top it off, 92% of them preferred sticking to the payment methods they already know and love. Concerns about cybersecurity and privacy were sky-high too, with 87% worried about the bank’s ability to fend off cyber threats.
The central bank always maintained that the digital dollar wouldn't replace cash but was supposed to make online shopping and money transfers a breeze. Now, it seems they’re more interested in diving deep into policy research and figuring out how to ride the waves of the ever-changing payments landscape.
This shift in focus comes at a time when the world is getting more and more curious about CBDCs. Countries like the Bahamas, Jamaica, and Nigeria are already rolling out their digital currencies and looking to expand their usage. And according to the latest data, a whopping 134 countries and currency unions, making up 98% of the global GDP, are exploring the idea of central bank digital currencies.
Geopolitical events like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have only fueled the fire, with 13 cross-border initiatives now in the works, including Project mBridge, connecting banks in countries like China and Thailand. Speaking of China, their digital yuan pilot is still the heavyweight champion, boasting transactions worth 7 trillion yuan (about $986 billion) as of June 2024 – nearly four times last year’s total.
So there you have it, folks. While Canada takes a moment to rethink its digital currency game plan, the rest of the world is charging full steam ahead. Stay tuned, because the crypto landscape is as dynamic as ever!
