CBDCs inch ever closer to the mainstream

It seems week by week another Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) initiative is announced. We recently heard the Bank of Japan (central bank to the third biggest economy globally) announce it was to proceed with its CBDC project. In the UK, it is similar to painting by numbers or, as some may say - “dot to dot”. The UK’s Bank of England has gone from being indifferent to embracing, to potentially even encouraging digital currencies. The announcement that Belgium-based financial services company, Euroclear, is to invest in Finality.org  is potentially very, very significant for the UK financial services sector. Firstly, we had the FPC announcement and then (the deputy governor at the Bank of England) Sam Wood's letter on 24th March. This was followed on 25th March when Finality.org revealed Euroclear as a new investor. Finality is to have a commercial relationship with the Bank of England, even though the Bank of England website claims it “only offers banking facilities to the governm…