The Central Bank of Spain (BDE) is openly discussing the idea of issuing its version of digital currency.
Central Bank Digital Currency is a concept that has been circulating among financiers in different countries for a while now.20 countries in Europe announced their plans to release their versions within the next decade.
Spain wants to start its wholesale CBDC project as soon as possible. Currently, the BDE is waiting for proposals from technology experts within the country.
An important experiment
The plan is to focus on three main aspects: fund movement simulation, financial asset liquidation, and analysis of the test project. The first iteration of the Spanish CBDC will not launch until the government assesses the situation and tests the limits of the technology.
It is also important to critically analyze the consequences of releasing a digital currency into the existing infrastructure and economy.
The digitalization of the society and economy is the main reason for the BDE to start this initiative right now when there is still time to test innovative tools.
A complex study of digital currencies issued by central banks is something that can help economies to adapt and nations develop sound monetary policies.
Representatives of the Spanish bank added that the iteration of the currency that will be tested won’t be issued on a wide scale. Instead, it will have primarily retail purposes and some other sectors of the economy.
Other areas will not be included in the study. The bank will stop collecting proposals on January 31, 2023.
Spain has many talented individuals who will gladly participate in a very important governmental project that may very well be the first important step toward total digitalization of the economy.
Spain is already behind many other EU members
Switzerland is already a couple of steps ahead of Spain and the UK is also developing the first iterations of CBDCs. On the Eastern front, even Russia is moving forward to create a digital ruble.
The BDE must move fast to be among the first countries to implement a digital currency and secure a significant portion of the global market.