Central Banks Are Trying To Muscle Aside Bitcoin. What Investors Need to Know.

Central Banks Are Trying To Muscle Aside Bitcoin. What Investors Need to Know.

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Bitcoin may be stealing the spotlight, but central banks are racing to develop their own digital currencies“”aiming to blunt the appeal of the crypto and other virtual monies. 

Central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, aren't in widespread use from any major countries. But China is well on its way with a CBDC, and others could be soon. More than 60 central banks are now exploring or actively developing CBDCs, according to PwC. And "efforts to introduce CBDCs are gaining momentum,“ according to a report by



Morgan Stanley.



 

China is the furthest along, having launched pilot programs for a digital yuan, or renminbi, in several mainland cities.

The European Central Bank recently completed a public consultation period on a digital euro. ECB President

Christine Lagarde

said in late March that the ECB's governing council would decide on moving forward with a digital euro in mid-2021. She