| Matthew Hunt (Deloitte, Currency Research)
| Valeria Gallo (Deloitte)
| Ben Thornhill (Deloitte)

Deloitte’s Matthew Hunt, Valeria Gallo and Ben Thornhill joined FNA for Session 18 of the Payments Systems Broadcast as we looked ahead to see what the future of money and payments holds. 

As payment infrastructures undergo significant moerniziation, it is crucial to address how these changes impact central banks, regulators and payment system operators.

In this session, we explored the evolution of payments, focusing on strategic priorities, trends and solutions for navigating the dynamic payments landscape including: 

• The evolution of the payments landscape and the rise of real-time, interoperable payment systems 
• Opportunities and risks of emerging technologies, including blockchain and IA 
• The role of Regulatory Frameworks in balancing innovation with stability

Guests Aniko Szombati, Chief Digital Officer Magyar Nemzeti Bank and Chris Ostrowski, Co-founder and CEO of SODA, joined FNA for Session #19 of the CBDC Broadcast, Testing DLT-based Central Bank Solutions.

In this session, we delved into the Central Bank of Hungary and SODA’s joint project on the use of digital solutions, including rCBDCs and NFTs, as we gained valuable insights into the pivotal role of public engagement and hands-on experiences in shaping the development and adoption of rCBDs by leveraging NFTs and coin collecting to improve the understanding and implementation of digital currencies.

Together, we explored how the Central Bank of Hungary is approaching adoption issues ahead of rolling out an rCBDC in an approach that cultivates the consumer use case for rCBDCs and prepares the public for the introduction of an rCBDC.

The Session Covered:

• The Central Bank of Hungary’s approach to launching an rCBDC and how it differs from the majority of current pilot projects
• The insights gained by implementing a blockchain-based ledger on its own infrastructure to test-drive digital solutions aimed at the public
• Lessons to share with other Central Banks considering the adoption of rCBDCs
• The public’s response to activities such as coin collecting and token swapping on the Money Museum mobile application and how it has developed and refined the rCBDC concept
• Whether the Central Bank of Hungary’s approach will foster the consumer use case for digital currencies and rCBDCs
• Potential future developments and trends in the realm of digital money, including rCBDcs and how they could shape the financial industry and society in Hungary and around the world.

| 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

| Catherine Gu, Visa
| Carmelle Cadet, Emtech

Digital money is not a new thing. It’s been around for decades in the form of reserves at the central bank and commercial bank money. But today, we have additional forms of digital money, such as rCBDCs. We also have what we call challenger forms of money with stablecoins as the main example. With the new entrants to the money ecosystem, we must ask: How will the different forms of money interact? Are they substitutes or complements? Is it competition or coexistence?

To answer these questions, FNA was joined by guests Catherine Gu (Visa) and Carmelle Cadet from EMTECH.

The session covered:

• How system providers are looking at rCBDCs as part of their business
• The key to CBDC success following weak adoption in Nigeria, Bahamas and China
• How new forms of money and challenger forms of money will reshape the payments ecosystem
• The roadblocks to the successful integration of rCBDCs with existing systems and infrastructure
• The use cases for consumers and merchants that could spur adoption without crowding the payments market
• Whether jurisdictions could blend digital currencies to address multiple use cases, including a central bank’s motivations.
• Whether the availability of stablecoins and cryptos is pushing some countries to preserve monetary sovereignty
• Short and long-term predictions about the impact and market share of rCBDC and Stablecoins