20:33 5 December 2019
Bank of France to create digital currency
Next year, the central bank of France will start working on a central digital currency (MDBC) that will be used for high-value transactions. Already in the first quarter of 2020, a tender will be announced for projects based on the blockchain technology, announced Francois Villeroy de Galhau, the Governor of the Bank of France.
According to the AFP agency, this is the first such experiment in the eurozone, which will be part of the ongoing research on the creation of a possible ‘e-euro,’ which was mentioned by the new head of the European Central Bank (ECB) Christine Lagarde.
Reuters has seen an ECB document showing that the bank estimates that the introduction of the digital currency may be necessary if international payments within Europe remain too expensive. The implementation of the project may also be accelerated by signals about the less and less frequent use of cash. The ECB document says that the introduction of digital money “can have far-reaching implications” for monetary policy and for banks and that such a project should be carefully considered.
(Business Insider)
