The Dutch central bank, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), may become a leading force in the creation of a digital Euro representation. DNB published a detailed report, emphasizing on the pros of smart contract usage when developing central bank-issued digital currencies (CBDCs). DNB also stated its readiness to lead the Eurozone in the efforts for research and development of a digital Euro.
“If the Eurozone makes the decision to experiment with CBDCs, DMB is ready to take the lead, as the Netherlands proves to be suitable for such tests and experiments.”, the DNB stated.
However, despite turning into a hot topic, no Eurozone authority, nor the European Central Bank, makes decisions towards developing such currency.
The DNB also reported Dutch citizens to use less fiat cash on a daily basis. According to the DNB, only 30 percent of the population of the Netherlands use cash for transactions.
Further, into the 45-page report, the monetary regulator of the Netherlands stressed the threats that the current fiat financial system faces from “private digital money” operators, such as Libra. The DNB considers “private digital money” as a tool to fill the demand for cashless living, and governments have to propose public digital money alternatives, rather than private entities.
However, some countries like South Korea and Sweden already did their first steps towards digitizing their native currencies. China leads the pack, with a confirmed “digital yuan” trial and leaked photos from what might be the new wallet app the Chinese government is developing.
Meanwhile, the central bank of Argentina announced the adoption of RSK’s proof-of-concept blockchain. The new network would be utilized for debit claims, benefiting from the end-to-end traceability of blockchain networks.
The road to implementing such a solution began after Argentina’s Financial Innovation Roundtable gave the central bank of Argentina the “green light” for developing such infrastructure. The RSK smart contract lies at the heart of the project.
However, implementing and maintaining a working end-to-end blockchain network has to be done with everyone’s approval and cooperation. A large number of banks, including Banco de Santander, gave their consent to join the network, with an end goal of creating a better, safer, and transparent record-keeping system.