Programmable universal basic income (PUBI) using CBDCs
Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are digital forms of a nation's fiat money, issued and regulated by a central bank. But unlike decentralised cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum, CBDCs are sovereign-backed and integrated into the monetary system. Their potential lies in their programmability - i.e. the ability to embed rules, conditions and automation directly into the currency itself through smart contracts. These contracts are self-executing agreements with the terms of the contract directly written into code. When deployed on CBDC infrastructures, they allow for real-time, conditional transfers of money whereby eliminating intermediaries and bureaucratic processes. Combining CBDCs with programmable logic opens up new dimensions in economic policy design. Therefore, instead of blunt monetary tools, governments gain access to fine-grained instruments capable of targeted fiscal interventions, tailored precisely to economic needs and citizen profiles.
