# Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) > Digital money issued directly by central banks, now under development in 146 countries including China, the EU, and Brazil, reshaping cross-border settlement and monetary policy. **Meta:** type: reference · date: 2026-07-03 · heads: · 4 takes · 2 lenses · 1 regions ## What it is A central bank digital currency is a digital form of sovereign money issued directly by a central bank, representing a liability of the central bank itself, not of a commercial bank. Two variants define the field: retail CBDCs, available to households and businesses as a digital analogue to cash, and wholesale CBDCs, restricted to financial institutions for interbank settlement, cross-border payments, and the clearing of tokenised assets. Unlike stablecoins, CBDCs are state-issued, state-backed, and carry no counterparty default risk. The central monetary policy question is whether retail CBDCs displace commercial bank deposits, which would shrink bank funding and tighten credit. Most jurisdictions have designed in guard-rails, including holding limits and non-interest-bearing balances, to prevent that outcome. Key players span every major region: the People's Bank of China (PBoC), which began research in 2014 and runs the world's largest live programme; the European Central Bank (ECB), developing the digital euro; and the BIS, which coordinated the multilateral mBridge wholesale experiment. ## History China began CBDC research in 2014. In October 2020 the Central Bank of The Bahamas launched the Sand Dollar, the first deployed retail CBDC. Nigeria launched the eNaira in October 2021; the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank deployed DCash across eight member states the same year; Jamaica launched JamDex in 2022. None of these pioneering deployments has achieved significant organic adoption. The 2019 Libra announcement from Meta (then Facebook) was a catalyst: it alarmed central banks about private money displacement and accelerated CBDC programmes globally. The BIS established Project mBridge in 2021 with the PBoC's Digital Currency Institute, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Bank of Thailand, and the Central Bank of the UAE to test a shared wholesale settlement platform across these jurisdictions. Ukraine-related SWIFT restrictions after February 2022 further accelerated wholesale CBDC interest among states seeking settlement alternatives. The project reached minimum-viable-product stage in mid-2024; in October 2024 the BIS transferred governance to the partner central banks, with Saudi Arabia having joined as a full member that year and 32 institutions now participating as observers. ## Current state As of mid-2026, 146 countries and currency unions representing 98% of global GDP are exploring a CBDC, and 77 have reached the advanced phase of development, pilot, or launch, according to the Atlantic Council's tracker. Three retail CBDCs are fully deployed: the Sand Dollar (Bahamas), JamDex (Jamaica), and the eNaira (Nigeria). All three face organic adoption challenges. China's e-CNY is the largest active programme, logging more than 3.4 billion transactions worth roughly 16.7 trillion renminbi by December 2025. India's e-rupee reached 6 million retail users and ₹1,016 crore in circulation by March 2025, yet volumes remain negligible against the [23 billion monthly UPI transactions](/ja/n/india-erupe-cbdc-2026). The ECB's digital euro is under development with no confirmed launch date. Brazil's Drex targets a 2026 launch. Russia's central bank plans to require its largest commercial banks to enable Digital Ruble transactions from September 2026. Among G20 members, all except the US Federal Reserve have reached at least advanced-stage exploration; Canada, Australia, and Norway have deprioritised retail CBDCs. mBridge, now governed by its founding partners, has processed a cumulative US$55.49 billion in transaction volume. ## Relationships The sharpest live case study is India, where the [e-rupee](/ja/n/india-erupe-cbdc-2026) and [UPI](/ja/n/upi-global-expansion-2026) coexist. UPI dominates at the retail layer with 23.2 billion monthly transactions; the wholesale e₹-W is positioned for government-securities settlement and cross-border corridors with the UAE and Singapore. mBridge links China, the UAE, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Saudi Arabia in a wholesale settlement layer outside SWIFT, relevant to oil-revenue recycling and bilateral trade finance. The BIS 2024 survey found 91% of 93 central banks exploring CBDCs, with stablecoin growth prompting over one-third to accelerate, confirming that private tokenised money and state digital money are in active competition. ## What to watch - Brazil's Drex launch: the largest emerging-market retail CBDC not yet live - Russia's September 2026 Digital Ruble rollout and whether it connects to mBridge - ECB digital euro: EU legislative timeline and commercial bank distribution model - US Federal Reserve stance: no retail CBDC commitment, but stablecoin legislation in Congress is narrowing the gap - mBridge post-BIS handover: whether Gulf or ASEAN central banks join and volumes scale into commodity-trade settlement ## Regional takes (batched by bias / lens) ### official record - **Bank for International Settlements** (Global, en) — 2024 BIS survey of 93 central banks: 91% exploring retail or wholesale CBDC or both; wholesale exploration more advanced than retail globally; stablecoin growth prompted over one-third of jurisdictions to accelerate CBDC work. Source: https://www.bis.org/publ/bppdf/bispap159.htm - **International Monetary Fund** (Global, en) — IMF CBDC Virtual Handbook: policy reference for central banks and finance ministries covering retail versus wholesale design choices, account-based versus token-based architecture, financial inclusion trade-offs, and monetary policy transmission risks. Source: https://www.imf.org/en/topics/digital-payments-and-finance/central-bank-digital-currency/virtual-handbook - **BIS Innovation Hub** (Global, en) — Project mBridge page: founding partners include the PBoC Digital Currency Institute, Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Bank of Thailand, and Central Bank of the UAE; Saudi Central Bank joined in 2024; 32 observing members; reached MVP stage mid-2024; BIS handed governance to partners October 2024. Source: https://www.bis.org/about/bisih/topics/cbdc/mcbdc_bridge.htm ### policy analysis - **Atlantic Council CBDC Tracker** (Global, en) — Real-time tracker: 146 countries representing 98% of global GDP exploring a CBDC; 77 in advanced phase of development, pilot, or launch; 41 active pilots; three fully deployed (Bahamas, Jamaica, Nigeria); mBridge at US$55.49 billion in cumulative transaction volume. Source: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/cbdctracker/ ## Across the graph - Related: [[upi-global-expansion-2026]], [[india-erupe-cbdc-2026]] - Entities: Market:cbdc, Org:reserve Bank of India, Org:peoples Bank of China, Org:ecb, Bis --- Canonical: https://rbtfl.xyz/ja/n/cbdc-dossier