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"The envisaged design of a digital euro would address financial stability concerns by applying adequate holding limits. The cap on individual holdings would set an upper bound for the amount of digital euro in circulation and prevent the materialisation of high deposit outflows. Recent studies show that setting a digital euro holding limit of €3,000 per person would be effective in containing the impact on banks' liquidity risks and funding structures. With such a limit in place, outflows of household overnight deposits from the euro area banking sector could only occur (up to a maximum of 15%) in the following highly unlikely circumstances: (i) if all euro area citizens adopted the digital euro simultaneously, and (ii) they all shifted bank deposits to the digital euro at the upper bound of the holding limit instantaneously and then held these on a continuous basis. However, the actual level of the individual holding limit would be calibrated closer to the possible introduction of a digital euro to reflect the economic conditions prevailing at that time."

The European Central Bank (ECB) published its 2nd progress report on the preparation phase of a digital euro, which was launched on November 1, 2023. Since the publication of the 1st progress report, the ECB has updated its digital euro scheme rulebook, aimed at harmonizing digital euro payments across the euro area. Also, the ECB has concluded a call for applications for selecting potential providers of digital euro components and related services, and started user research and experimentation activities, to gather insights into users' preferences and to inform design decision-making. In addition, along with with key stakeholders, the ECB will be exploring innovative use cases for the digital euro, including conditional payments. In parallel, the ECB is working with Eurosystem national central banks and other competent authorities to develop a methodology for setting digital euro holding limits.

The Bank of Israel (BOI) is inviting anyone (from Israel or abroad) interested in studying or experimenting with the use of a digital shekel to submit a request to join the Digital Shekel Challenge. Preference will be given to uses with innovative characteristics in the payments market, whether they are improvements to existing applications, or completely new applications. Contestants will be asked to technologically develop various use cases for the digital shekel, by using the application programming interface (API) layer at the center of the proposed two-tier central bank digital currency (CBDC) model. The API layer provides functionalities that enable service providers to connect to the digital shekel system and offer end users among the public a wide and innovative range of services, while maintaining end users' privacy and the security and reliability of the payment system.

The share of digital payment transactions to total monthly retail payments in the Philippines grew from 42.1% in 2022 to 52.8% in 2023, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). This indicates that the central bank has surpassed its target of digitalizing 50% of digital payments volume in the country under its Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap 2018-2023. In terms of value, the latest e-payments measurement also showed that the share of monthly digital payments to total transactions increased to 55.3% in 2023 from 40.1% in 2022. The main contributors to the rise in e-payments were merchant payments which accounted for 64.9% of monthly digital payments volume, person-to-person transfers at 19.3%, and business-to-business supplier payments at 6.1%.

The U.K Chancellor of the Exchequer announced details of the launch of the procurement process for the Digital Gilt Instrument (DIGIT) issuance pilot. HM Treasury (HMT) has published additional information, engagement questions and has issued a Preliminary Market Engagement notice through its contract finder service. The short-dated gilts will be issued outside the government's conventional debt issuance program, and will not be issued by the Debt Management Office. Given the gilt will be hosted on a platform that's part of the Digital Securities Sandbox, the platform will first need approval from the Bank of England and Financial Conduct Authority that are jointly operating the Sandbox. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/announcement-of-preliminary-market-engagement-exercise-for-the-digital-gilt-instrument-digit-pilot

This article provides an overview on how a digital euro is intended to work. An examination of the prospective design features and architecture of the digital euro reveals the complexity of the project and the challenges associated with integrating the digital euro into the existing payment landscape. In order to justify the huge investments from both the Eurosystem and the private sector, a high adoption rate by users is essential. Therefore, a digital euro needs to offer a competitive advantage over existing electronic payment instruments, which could refer to the unique scope comprising online and offline transactions as well as the trust of retail customers in the Eurosystem. Hence, a convincing communication strategy is needed to convey these benefits of a digital euro. Moreover, banks and other payment service providers need to have sufficient economic incentives to distribute the digital euro to their customers and to provide acquiring services to merchants.

Kyrgyz Republic President Sadyr Japarov signed the constitutional law that will enable the country's central bank to launch a digital som pilot project and create a legal basis for the central bank digital currency (CBDC). The law was adopted by the Parliament on March 20, 2025. The law defines the digital som as the national currency of the Kyrgyz Republic in digital form, which is legal tender in the country. The central bank is granted the exclusive right to issue the digital som, and will establish the procedure for its issue and circulation, as well as organize and ensure functioning of the digital som platform.

Singapore has been named the world's top nation in terms of digital adoption and which showcases the most favorable environment for digitalization, according to Cisco's annual Digital Readiness Index. The index, which measures digital readiness of countries based on seven components: ease of doing business, human capital, startup environment, technology adoption and technology infrastructure, ranked Singapore as the world's most well prepared country for digitalization.

Bakkt announced the launch of the Bakkt App, a digital wallet that brings together bitcoin and other forms of digital assets into one platform. The Bakkt App gives consumers the power to convert participating rewards points to cash or using bitcoin as payment, for example - all within one user-friendly application. Bakkt estimates that there are over $1.2 trillion in digital assets currently held in cryptocurrencies, loyalty and rewards points, and gift cards. Bakkt's goal is to make all digital assets as liquid as any fiat currency.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) published a white paper on its e-CNY central bank digital currency (CBDC). Among other things, it confirmed that it will be issued by the central bank and commercial banks merely distribute it, so it is not a "synthetic" CBDC. The paper outlines the primary objectives of the digital yuan, the first being to ensure financial inclusion and provide a public good digital cash while physical cash usage declines. The second objective is to promoting fair competition and interoperability between different forms of digital cash. It differentiates the e-CNY from other digital payment tools as being legal tender, not requiring a bank account, supporting offline payments and providing managed anonymity. The whitepaper states that the CBDC is "mainly" designed for domestic use, but it will be usable across borders, while acknowledging monetary sovereignty issues and the principle of "no detriment". http://www.pbc.gov.cn/en/3688110/3688172/4157443/4293696/2021071614584691871.pdf

Emirates Digital Wallet, along with First Abu Dhabi Bank, FAB, Mashreq Bank, National Bank of Fujairah and Mastercard launched the klip Digital Cash Platform. Klip offers a simple way for users to transfer money to others via a mobile number and allows users to seamlessly pay for goods in-store using the existing merchant reach offered by its partner banks. It further enables small businesses to start accepting digital payments via mobile phones, meaning more businesses can tap into the digital economy. It is available whether or not the user has a bank account - there is no minimum requirement, other than being a resident of the UAE and having a SIM card. klip is instant, and when a klip transaction is made no personal financial data is transferred. https://www.edw.ae/faqs-2/

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) dominate the business landscape in the Middle East and North Africa region, yet they face impediments to growth, being handicapped by limited access to credit, unfavorable business environments, and talent gaps. Digital technologies present new opportunities for these businesses to achieve faster growth. To increase demand for digital services, governments should develop digital literacy and awareness programs as well as foster consumer trust by strengthening frameworks for cybersecurity, digital identification, data privacy, and consumer protection. The digital strategy must be underpinned by financial sector and business environment reforms, particularly strengthening financial infrastructures and business support.

Since its first cohort in 2016, the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Regulatory Sandbox has supported 14 digital ID models. Also, there have been 15 applications for Direct Support to the FCA Innovation Hub and 6 of these are now receiving that support. Many other digital ID providers have engaged with the FCA through various channels such as the Anti-Money Laundering TechSprints. The FCA, in collaboration with The City of London, has also recently completed a pilot Digital Sandbox, which provides data access and a digital testing environment to help innovative businesses develop proof of concept. Two digital ID propositions participated in the pilot.

Stanford University's Future of Digital Currency Program joined forces with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), a United nations agency headed by China, to launch the Digital Currency Global Initiative (DGCI). The purpose is to conduct research on central bank digital currency (CBDC) and other digital currencies, aiming to identify areas for standardization to facilitate interoperability. This research will focus on technical architectures, security, technical implications and challenges in deployment caused by regulatory and policy requirements. It will also construct a set of metrics by which to evaluate the robustness of various digital currency technologies against the requirements set by various stakeholders.

The world's first blockchain-based digital collector coin (LBCOIN) created by the Bank of Lithuania as well as its e-shop have entered the final testing phase. Upon its successful completion, the digital coin should be issued by July 2020. 24,000 digital tokens and 4,000 physical silver collector coins will be issued. For each digital coin collectors will get six digital tokens that will be available for storage in a dedicated wallet at the LBCOIN e-shop. They could also be used as a gift, exchanged with other collectors, transferred to a public NEM wallet and later be used to redeem a physical silver coin.

Chris Brummer gets the sense that most financial experts and economists support the release of a digital dollar, at least of some sort, that would comprise a liability of the Federal Reserve carrying the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. The disagreements appear to lie in what kind of technology should support it. For Chris Giancarlo and Dan Gorfine, a digital dollar would be tokenized, meaning that digital dollars would operate as bearer instruments that could be transferred instantaneously. Meanwhile Morgan Ricks supports an account-based path for digitization that would comprise just one component of a larger, explicit strategy of enabling financial inclusion through the buildout of digital individual accounts at the Fed.

A joint report by The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, the World Bank and the World Economic Forum, has found that while 12 out of 13 fintech sectors reported year-on-year growth during the first half of 2020, significant discrepancies between sectors and regions remain. Digital banking, digital identity and regtech sectors showed a more modest growth increase of 10% compared to their counterparts in digital payments, digital savings, wealthtech and digital asset exchanges which saw transaction volumes grow in excess of 20%. Procyclical digital lending fintechs saw an average 8% decrease in transaction volumes. Fintechs based in Emerging Markets or Developing Economies saw higher average growth in transaction numbers and volumes (15% and 12% respectively) than those in Advanced Economies. https://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/faculty-research/centres/alternative-finance/publications/2020-global-covid-19-fintech-market-rapid-assessment-study/

The Swiss Stock Exchange (SIX) is planning to give banks full access to digital assets through a partnership between its digital asset arm, SIX Digital Exchange, and Swiss custody firm Custodigit. The Institutional Digital Asset Gateway will enable banks to develop new financial services and products around crypto-assets and digital assets for their customers. This partnership will also build upon the recent SIX investment in Omniex.

ISDA will bring together derivatives market participants, members of the crypto-asset community and other stakeholders to help develop common legal standards and definitions for digital asset derivatives, recognizing that crypto assets are a unique product class. This paper (i) identifies novel technology and market-driven events that could disrupt the operation of a digital asset derivatives transaction and provides a framework for dealing with these events; (ii) explores how digital assets (and the derivatives that reference them) can be valued and what happens when a valuation cannot be obtained; and (iii) analyzes how digital assets might interact with the existing ISDA documentation architecture, including the ISDA Master Agreement and industry standard collateral documentation. ISDA has also produced a supplement to the paper that sets out a granular, technical analysis of different ISDA product definitions and their potential applicability to digital asset derivatives.

The European Commission (EC) has received about 10,000 public comments so far on its call for evidence regarding a digital euro, which is to run from April 5 to June 14 and is aimed at getting feedback for the possible establishment and regulation of a digital currency as a new form of central bank money. During a similar period, the EC is also conducting a consultation targeted at relevant authorities and experts, to help policymakers consider issues including users' needs and expectations for a digital euro, a digital euro's role for the EU's retail payments and digital economy, the application of money-laundering rules, privacy and data protection aspects and international payments.