| Jannah Patchay (Executive Director, Policy Lead & Originating Member of the Digital Pound Foundation)
| Elise Soucie (Director of Global Policy and Regulatory Affairs, Global Digital Finance)

Guests Elise Soucie (Global Digital Finance) and Jannah Patchay (Digital Pound Foundation) joined the CBDC Broadcast to discuss what’s next for the Digital Pound as we asked how the Bank of England can build trust in the digital currency, what they can do to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to maintain stability, and when we can expect to see a UK CBDC.

The session follows the Digital Pound Foundation’s submission to the Bank of England’s Discussion paper, outlining key considerations for developing a regulatory framework for digital forms of money, including stablecoins and CBDCs.

We’ll also look beyond the UK to explore what can be learned from other digital currency initiatives worldwide, to examine what advantages the UK has in pioneering this technology and the opportunity programmability brings for innovation and smart contracts.

The Session Covered:

• The Digital Pound and how it differs from stablecoins
• How the UK’s approach to CBDCs differs to other jurisdictions
• The use cases for a wholesale and retail CBDC
• The role of banks and other payment system providers in the Digital Pound Project
• How a UK CBDC that is seamlessly interchangeable with other forms of money would work in practice
• The UK and the digital financial and digital money landscape in 2024

| Danny Russell (Bank of England)
| Catherine Gu (Visa)

There are many challenges surrounding the development of CBDCs, from maximizing interoperability to encouraging public-private sector collaboration and driving consumer adoption.

Aiming to address these challenges is the BIS Innovation Hub London’s Project Rosalind- a joint experimentation with the Bank of England which aims to develop prototypes for an application programming interface that could best enable a Central Bank ledger to interact with private sector service providers to enable the safe provision of retail payments.

To offer further insight into Rosalind- named after British Scientist Rosalind Franklin and her work regarding DNA sequencing, guests Danny Russell (Bank of England) and Catherine Gu (VISA) joined FNA for Session #21 of the CBDC Broadcast.

In this session, we discussed the motivations behind the project and how it allows for further experimentation with CBDC design and interoperability, as well as the importance of public and private sector collaboration, drawing on the role of VISA and other private sector partnerships.

Sharmyn Powell (ECCB) joined session #20 of The CBDC Broadcast to discuss the promise and perils of emerging digital currencies.

Drawing upon her deep expertise, Sharmyn shared her perspective on how digital currencies, from rCBDCs to stablecoins and tokenized deposits, are changing the payment ecosystem and offered insight into the Dcash rCBDC project.

The session covered:

• The main motivation for rolling out DCash and an update on DCash adoption
• The factors driving/curbing DCash adoption, including education, internet access and use cases
• Why digital monies like cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and retail CBDCs have seen limited adoption so far
• The role of regulators and supervisors regarding digital currencies
• How digital currencies can foster innovation and benefit the public
• how can CBDCs and vehicles like DCash replicate the benefit cash offers at-risk groups

| Dr Tony Richards, Chair CBDC Committee, Digital Finance CRC

| Sonja Davidovic, CBDC Lead, BIS Innovation Hub Singapore

In session #17 of the CBDC Broadcast, guests Dr Tony Richards and Sonja Davidovic offered valuable insight into their work exploring digital currencies and how they contribute to shaping the future of money.

We gained insight into the RBA’s collaboration with DFCRC exploring rCBDC use cases in Australia, while Sonja discussed the BISIH’s Project Nexus investigating the scalability and interoperability of digital money, as well as cross-border transactions in the Asia-Pacific region.

Throughout the session, we addressed the key considerations and challenges associated with CBDCs, including technological considerations, regulatory frameworks, financial stability, and user adoption. We also looked at the importance of international collaboration among central banks, payment system operators and technology providers.

In this session, we covered:

• The Reserve Bank of Australia’s collaboration with DFCRC exploring rCBDC use cases in Australia
• Overview of Project Nexus and the next steps for the scalability and interoperability of digital money in facilitating cross-border transactions beyond the Asia-Pacific Region
• The collaborative efforts and standardization measures necessary to ensure global CBDC compatibility
• The challenges and considerations to ensure financial stability, compliance with monetary policy and user adoption
• The importance of international cooperation and public-private partnerships in realizing the full potential CBDCs and other forms of digital money
• Other innovations currently being explored that will likely shape the future of money and payments

The first FNA Talk of the year focuses on one of the most prominent FinTech themes of 2021. Join Adam as he chats with with Moad Fahmi, Senior Advisor (Financial Technology) from the Bermuda Monetary Authority. Bermuda is one of the first jurisdictions with a regulatory framework designed specifically for digital asset businesses. We will be discussing the impacts and implications of digital currencies and crypto assets and highlight the new roles and responsibilities of central banks and financial authorities.

Index

00:00 - Introduction

01:24 - How is digital money changing the landscape of financial services including payments and settlements?

07:18 - What are the particularities of the digital assets regulation and sector in Bermuda?

12:14 - How do regulators and central banks need to change to be able to supervise and regulate the digital assets businesses?

18:20 - What are the key prerequisites for a successful regulation of digital currencies and digital assets on the cross-jurisdictional level?

23:46 - What are the potential implications of the digital money being issued by a variety of entities including the BigTechs?