US may have shelved digital currency plans, India and 43 countries are still at it

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The United States may have cancelled its central bank digital currency project, data shows that 44 countries, including India, are running CBDC pilots, with three having launched the currency. India is among the countries in advanced pilot stage. The digital rupee crossed 1 million transactions in January 2024.

On January 28,  the Reserve Bank of India extended the facility to offer digital currency to fintech platform Cred, which became the first non-banking entity to offer CBDC, broaden the user base.  Digital currency in circulation reached Rs 234 crore in March 2024, up 41 times from the previous year.

The number of countries experimenting with CBDC has nearly doubled over the past three years, data from the Atlantic Council CBDC tracker shows.

In April 2021, 74 nations were experimenting with the CBDC. By September 2024, the number went up to 134. Of these, 21 were inactive, while another two cancelled.

The US, as per the CBDC tracker, was in a development phase when President Donald Trump signed the executive order “Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology” and scrapped the plan.

On the campaign trail in 2024, Trump called CBDC a “dangerous threat to freedom” and talked about promoting stablecoins backed by the dollar.

The development is also likely to put US’ CBDC initiatives like Project Cedar, with Singapore and Project Agora, which has participation from France, South Korea, Japan among others in limbo.

Europe and Asia are moving faster

Data shows that of the countries in the pilot phase of CBDC, nearly 80 percent belonged to  Europe and Asia. On the other hand, the entire North America was in a development phase, including parts of Central America.

Brazil was the only country with a pilot on CBDC in operation.

In Africa, except South Africa and Eswatini, most countries were in the research phase, with three inactive.

Nigeria, Bahamas and Jamaica were the only countries to have launched a CBDC. However, data from the Nigerian Central Bank shows that transactions may have peaked.