Central banks buying into crypto with their own digital currencies

While it’s not widely known, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is an international financial institution owned by central banks that “fosters international monetary and financial cooperation and serves as a bank for central banks.”

‏‏‎It provides banking services exclusively to central banks and has one key focus: global financial stability.

So it’s interesting that the BIS is now focusing on digital money as a possible financial stabilizer on a global scale.

In a new report, the BIS introduced Project Dunbar to showcase how using central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) coud make international payments “faster and safer.”

The project is a collaboration between central banks in Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, and South Africa. Its focus is:

• Settling international transactions through a common forum. 
• Cross-border payment simplification in accordance with local regulations, which differ from country to country. 
• Developing a fair governance system that respects an individual country’s national security while allowing the sharing of financial information.

If the project is a success, it could provide meaningful insights on how a multi-CBDC platform may potentially solve complex issues in the cross-border payment space through central bank collaboration.

Ironically, even though these are government coins, this project could actually help remove international borders.

Whether it fails or succeeds, the fact that central banks (which guard each country’s money supply) are actively focused on digital currencies should speak volumes about the future of money.