Which Countries Are Launching CBDCs? Global Progress Explained

Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) have moved from a niche monetary-policy experiment to a major global financial-technology initiative. Central banks are researching digital versions of sovereign money, testing CBDC platforms with banks and consumers, and exploring how digital currencies could improve domestic payments, cross-border settlement, financial inclusion, and tokenized financial markets.

But there is an important distinction that is often lost in discussions about the “CBDC race”: researching a CBDC is not the same as piloting one, and running a pilot is not the same as officially launching a CBDC for nationwide use.

As of May 2026, the Atlantic Council’s CBDC Tracker reported that 146 countries and currency unions, representing more than 98% of global GDP, were exploring CBDCs. Of these, 77 were in an advanced stage of exploration, defined by the tracker as development, pilot, or launch. The tracker identified 41 CBDC pilot projects and three countries with fully launched CBDCs: The Bahamas, Jamaica, and Nigeria.

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) provides another important measure of the scale of this activity. Its 2024 survey, published in August 2025, found that 85 of 93 surveyed central banks, or 91%, were exploring a retail CBDC, a wholesale CBDC, or both. The central banks surveyed represented 78% of the world’s population and 94% of global economic output.

This article explains which countries have actually launched CBDCs, which major economies are running pilots or preparing for potential issuance, why governments are pursuing digital sovereign currencies, and what the latest global progress means for businesses and the future of digital payments.

What Is a CBDC?

A central bank digital currency is a digital form of central bank money issued by a monetary authority. Unlike cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, a CBDC represents money backed by and issued within the central banking system.

CBDCs generally fall into two categories: retail and wholesale.

A retail CBDC is intended for individuals and businesses and can potentially be used for everyday purchases, person-to-person payments, government payments, and other retail transactions.

A wholesale CBDC is designed primarily for financial institutions and other eligible participants. Its potential applications include interbank settlement, securities settlement, foreign exchange transactions, and tokenized financial assets.

The distinction is important because some countries are developing wholesale CBDCs without intending to issue a retail CBDC to the general public.

CBDCs also do not necessarily require blockchain technology. A central bank can use distributed ledger technology (DLT), a conventional centralized database, or a hybrid architecture. The defining feature is the nature of the money and its issuer, not the underlying database technology.

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How Many Countries Are Exploring CBDCs?

The scale of CBDC research has expanded significantly.

The Atlantic Council reported in May 2026 that 146 countries and currency unions were exploring CBDCs. That figure represented more than 98% of global GDP. The number was 87 in May 2022, showing how rapidly interest has expanded over a four-year period.

The BIS survey gives a similar indication of widespread central-bank activity. In 2024, 85 out of 93 surveyed central banks were working on retail CBDCs, wholesale CBDCs, or both. That equals:

85 ÷ 93 × 100 = 91.4%

Rounded to the nearest whole number, that is 91%.

However, this 91% figure should not be interpreted as meaning that 91% of countries are about to launch a digital currency. Central banks can remain in the research stage for years, and some may ultimately decide not to issue a CBDC.

The current global picture is therefore better understood as a spectrum:

Research → Development → Pilot → Advanced preparation → Launch

Each stage represents a different level of commitment.

Which Countries Have Fully Launched CBDCs?

According to the Atlantic Council’s May 2026 tracker and recent IMF analysis, three countries have fully launched retail CBDCs: The Bahamas, Jamaica, and Nigeria.

The table illustrates why headlines about “CBDC launches” can be misleading. The Bahamas, Jamaica, and Nigeria are in a fundamentally different position from countries such as China, India, Brazil, or members of the euro area that are still testing or preparing their systems.

The IMF stated in 2025 that three jurisdictions had launched retail CBDCs and identified China, Ghana, India, Kazakhstan, Türkiye, and the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union among jurisdictions that had piloted retail CBDCs. It also identified the European Union, Indonesia, Morocco, Sweden, the UAE, and the United Kingdom among jurisdictions in advanced research or technological experimentation.

The Bahamas: Sand Dollar

The Bahamas was the first country to officially launch a nationwide CBDC.

The Sand Dollar was introduced in October 2020 and was designed partly to address the country’s geographic challenges. The Bahamas consists of numerous islands, and policymakers identified financial inclusion and access to payment infrastructure as important motivations for a digital currency.

The IMF has noted that improving access for unbanked and underbanked populations across the country’s inhabited islands was a major motivation behind the Sand Dollar.

The Bahamas provides an important early lesson for other countries: launching the technology does not automatically produce mass adoption.

The IMF has reported that adoption of launched CBDCs has remained relatively limited, with challenges including merchant participation, integration with existing banking infrastructure, user education, and incentives for intermediaries.

This is significant because CBDC success is not determined only by whether the underlying technology works. A digital currency also needs merchants, consumers, financial institutions, payment providers, wallets, regulatory support, and compelling use cases.

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Jamaica: JAM-DEX

Jamaica launched JAM-DEX, its central bank digital currency, in 2022.

JAM-DEX is a retail CBDC intended to support digital payments within Jamaica. Its development reflects the broader Caribbean interest in modernizing payment infrastructure and increasing access to digital financial services.

Jamaica’s experience is especially relevant to countries considering CBDCs for domestic payment modernization rather than purely as a replacement for cash.

The IMF’s 2025 analysis continues to identify Jamaica’s JAM-DEX as one of the three officially launched retail CBDCs.

The Jamaican case also demonstrates that a CBDC launch is only one stage of a longer adoption process. Central banks need to monitor transaction activity, user behavior, merchant acceptance, interoperability, and the relationship between CBDC wallets and commercial-bank accounts.

Nigeria: eNaira

Nigeria launched the eNaira in October 2021, becoming the second country to officially launch a CBDC after The Bahamas.

The eNaira was developed as a digital form of Nigeria’s sovereign currency and is intended to support digital payments and broader financial objectives.

Nigeria is particularly important in the global CBDC discussion because it represents a large emerging economy using a live retail CBDC rather than merely testing one.

The IMF confirms that Nigeria is one of the three jurisdictions with a launched retail CBDC.

However, Nigeria’s experience also demonstrates the difference between availability and adoption. A CBDC can be officially issued while still facing challenges in achieving widespread consumer and merchant use.

That lesson is relevant to every central bank: issuing a digital currency is a policy and infrastructure milestone, but adoption depends on practical value for users.

China: e-CNY

China has one of the world’s most advanced large-scale CBDC programs.

The People’s Bank of China has developed the e-CNY, commonly called the digital yuan, through extensive pilot programs involving retail payments and other use cases.

The IMF has classified China among the jurisdictions with large-scale CBDC experimentation rather than a fully launched nationwide retail CBDC.

China’s program is particularly significant because of its scale, technical development, and connection to broader digital-payment infrastructure.

The country’s CBDC work also extends beyond domestic retail payments. China has participated in international CBDC experimentation, including Project mBridge.

The BIS says Project mBridge reached the minimum viable product stage in 2024 and explored a multi-central-bank digital currency platform designed to enable cross-border payments and settlement using distributed ledger technology. The project involved the BIS Innovation Hub, the Bank of Thailand, the Central Bank of the UAE, the Digital Currency Institute of the People’s Bank of China, and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, with the Saudi Central Bank joining as a full member in 2024.

This illustrates an important evolution in CBDC development: central banks are not only asking how to create domestic digital money, but also how different digital currencies could interact across borders.

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India: Digital Rupee

India is another major economy with an advanced CBDC pilot.

The Reserve Bank of India has been testing the digital rupee in both retail and wholesale contexts. The retail pilot has focused on everyday digital payments, while wholesale experimentation has explored institutional settlement.

The IMF reported that India’s retail CBDC pilot had reached approximately five million users in 2024 and that the Reserve Bank of India was testing offline functionality to support payments in rural and remote areas.

India’s approach is particularly interesting because the country already has a highly developed instant-payment ecosystem.

This creates a different policy question from countries that lack advanced digital payment infrastructure. Instead of simply asking whether a CBDC can digitize payments, policymakers must determine what additional value a CBDC provides alongside existing systems.

India’s CBDC work therefore provides an important case study in interoperability, offline payments, programmability, financial inclusion, and the coexistence of central bank digital money with existing payment rails.

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Brazil: Drex

Brazil is developing Drex, its digital currency initiative.

The Banco Central do Brasil describes the Drex Pilot as a testing environment for operations involving the Brazilian digital currency and tokenized assets. The platform uses distributed ledger technology and is designed to test financial-market applications involving regulated intermediaries.

Brazil’s approach is notable because much of the work focuses on tokenization and programmable financial infrastructure rather than simply creating another consumer payment application.

The first phase of the Drex pilot tested areas including privacy, programmability, and delivery-versus-payment transactions involving tokenized assets. The Brazilian central bank states that the pilot involved simulated transactions rather than real customer funds or real assets.

The second phase expanded experimentation into areas such as credit, international trade finance, foreign-exchange markets, government securities, agricultural assets, automobiles, real estate, and other tokenized financial instruments.

This makes Drex a useful example of how CBDC development can intersect with asset tokenization and smart-contract infrastructure.

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European Union: Digital Euro

The European Union is taking a different approach because the digital euro is being developed at the euro-area level through the Eurosystem rather than by an individual national central bank.

The European Central Bank completed the preparation phase of the digital euro project in October 2025 and moved into a subsequent phase focused on technical readiness, market engagement, and support for the legislative process.

The ECB currently aims to be ready for potential first issuance during 2029, assuming the necessary legislation is adopted. A pilot is planned for the second half of 2027 and is expected to run for 12 months.

This means the digital euro should not currently be described as a launched CBDC.

It is better described as a CBDC project in advanced preparation, with a pilot planned and a potential issuance target of 2029.

The project also demonstrates why CBDC timelines can change. The ECB’s possible decision to issue the digital euro depends on the adoption of the relevant legislation.

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United Kingdom: Digital Pound

The United Kingdom is also exploring a potential CBDC, commonly called the digital pound.

The Bank of England and HM Treasury have been conducting a design phase covering technology, policy, privacy, payments, and potential use cases.

However, the UK has not decided to launch a digital pound.

The Bank of England’s March 2026 progress update states that the design phase ends in 2026 and that no decision has been made on whether to introduce the digital pound. The work is intended to inform the assessment of whether the UK should proceed or place greater emphasis on other payment-modernization initiatives.

Therefore, describing the UK as a “CBDC launch country” would be inaccurate.

A more precise description is that the UK is in an advanced design and evaluation stage.

This distinction matters for SEO and factual credibility. Articles that categorize every CBDC project as an imminent launch risk creating misleading information, particularly when users are searching for current CBDC timelines.

United Arab Emirates and Cross-Border CBDC Development

The United Arab Emirates has been active in both domestic CBDC development and international experimentation.

The Central Bank of the UAE participated in Project mBridge, which explored a shared multi-CBDC platform for cross-border payments and settlement.

The UAE’s involvement illustrates why wholesale CBDCs have become increasingly important.

A wholesale CBDC does not necessarily aim to replace the cash people use at retail stores. Instead, it can potentially improve how banks and financial institutions settle transactions.

This can become especially important when financial assets themselves are tokenized.

For example, if a security exists in tokenized form on a distributed ledger, market participants may eventually want a form of digital central bank money capable of settling that transaction directly within compatible infrastructure.

That is one reason the BIS found that wholesale CBDC exploration was generally more advanced than retail CBDC work in its 2024 survey.

Ghana and Other African CBDC Projects

Africa has become an important region in CBDC experimentation.

Nigeria is already a live CBDC market through the eNaira, while Ghana has developed and tested the e-Cedi.

The IMF’s 2025 analysis lists Ghana among jurisdictions that had piloted a retail CBDC and identifies Nigeria as one of the three countries with an officially launched retail CBDC.

The African CBDC landscape is particularly relevant because central banks face different challenges from those in highly banked developed economies.

Financial inclusion, mobile payments, remittances, informal economic activity, access to banking infrastructure, and cross-border payments can all influence CBDC design decisions.

However, a CBDC does not automatically solve financial inclusion. Users still need appropriate devices, connectivity, identity infrastructure, merchant acceptance, accessible wallets, and sufficient incentives to adopt the system.

The Caribbean Has Been an Early CBDC Testing Ground

The Caribbean region has played an outsized role in the early development of retail CBDCs.

The Bahamas launched the Sand Dollar in 2020, while Jamaica launched JAM-DEX in 2022.

The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank also previously operated DCash, a regional CBDC initiative. The IMF reported that the original DCash pilot was discontinued in January 2024 and that the ECCB was preparing a second pilot, called DCash 2.0.

This provides another important lesson: CBDC development is not necessarily a straight path from research to permanent launch.

A central bank may launch, evaluate performance, discontinue a platform, redesign it, and conduct another pilot.

For that reason, current CBDC status should always be checked against the central bank or a reputable international tracker before publication.

Why Are Countries Developing CBDCs?

Central banks have different motivations, and there is no single reason behind the global CBDC movement.

One motivation is maintaining access to central bank money as economies become increasingly digital.

Cash is physical. Modern payments are increasingly electronic. A CBDC could provide a digital form of central bank money for users who want an alternative to commercial-bank deposits or privately issued payment instruments.

The BIS found that preserving the role of central bank money amid declining cash usage and the rise of tokenization was an important motivation for many central banks.

Another motivation is payment-system modernization.

CBDCs could potentially improve payment efficiency, support offline payments, enable new forms of programmability, and create additional competition or resilience within payment infrastructure.

Financial inclusion is another important motivation, particularly in emerging markets and island economies.

Cross-border payments are also increasingly important. CBDCs may allow central banks to explore new settlement arrangements that reduce dependence on complex correspondent-banking chains.

Finally, tokenization is becoming a major driver.

As traditional assets such as securities, deposits, and other financial instruments become represented digitally, central banks are exploring whether digital central bank money can be used as settlement infrastructure for those tokenized assets.

Retail CBDCs vs Wholesale CBDCs

Understanding the difference between retail and wholesale CBDCs makes the global landscape much easier to interpret.

A retail CBDC is aimed at consumers and businesses. It could potentially be used to buy groceries, pay bills, send money to another person, or receive government payments.

A wholesale CBDC is primarily intended for financial institutions. It could be used for interbank settlement, securities settlement, foreign exchange, and tokenized asset transactions.

The BIS’s 2024 survey found that wholesale CBDC exploration was at more advanced stages overall than retail CBDC exploration.

This helps explain why some countries appear to be “progressing” rapidly even though they have no consumer CBDC.

Their central banks may be focusing on institutional settlement rather than issuing a digital currency wallet to every citizen.

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Why Some Countries Are Moving Slowly

Despite the large number of CBDC projects, many governments remain cautious.

A CBDC could affect commercial-bank deposits, monetary policy, payment providers, privacy, cybersecurity, financial stability, and the structure of the financial system.

There are also practical questions.

How should users obtain a CBDC? Should banks distribute it? Should central banks distribute it directly? Should individuals have holding limits? Should CBDCs pay interest? Should offline transactions be possible? How should privacy work? How should the system respond to fraud?

These questions are difficult because CBDC design involves both technology and public policy.

The BIS reported that more than one-third of jurisdictions surveyed in 2024 had accelerated CBDC work in response to developments involving stablecoins and other cryptoassets.

At the same time, not every jurisdiction is moving forward at the same speed.

The United Kingdom, for example, has not decided to introduce a digital pound, while Brazil continues to test Drex and the euro area is preparing for a potential digital euro issuance subject to legislation.

The Biggest CBDC Challenge: Adoption

One of the most important lessons from early CBDC projects is that launching the infrastructure does not guarantee adoption.

The IMF has reported that adoption remains slow and limited among countries that have launched CBDCs or conducted large-scale pilots. It identified issues such as merchant participation, banking integration, customer education, and incentives for intermediaries as important challenges.

This means a successful CBDC ecosystem requires more than a digital wallet.

It needs:

• convenient onboarding;
• reliable payment infrastructure;
• merchant acceptance;
• interoperability with existing payment systems;
• appropriate privacy protections;
• cybersecurity;
• clear regulation;
• consumer education; and
• practical use cases.

A CBDC that does not provide a meaningful advantage over existing payment methods may struggle to achieve sustained usage.

That is particularly relevant in countries where instant-payment systems are already fast, inexpensive, widely accepted, and easy to use.

CBDCs and Blockchain: Are Countries Building on the Same Technology?

No.

CBDC architecture varies considerably.

Some projects use or experiment with distributed ledger technology, while others use centralized systems or hybrid approaches.

Brazil’s Drex, for example, uses a DLT-based ecosystem for its pilot and focuses heavily on tokenized assets and programmable transactions.

Project mBridge, meanwhile, used distributed ledger technology to explore cross-border CBDC settlement between participating central banks and financial institutions.

But a country can develop a CBDC without creating a public blockchain.

This distinction is important when discussing CBDC development services because a CBDC project is fundamentally a regulated financial infrastructure project, not simply a blockchain application.

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CBDCs and Cross-Border Payments

One of the most promising areas of CBDC research is cross-border settlement.

Traditional international payments can involve multiple banks, messaging systems, settlement processes, currencies, and compliance requirements.

Multi-CBDC platforms could potentially allow participating financial institutions to settle transactions using central bank money on shared infrastructure.

Project mBridge is one of the best-known examples. The BIS says the project explored a multi-CBDC platform capable of supporting instant cross-border payments and settlement, and it reached the minimum viable product stage in 2024.

This does not mean that international CBDC payments are already universally available.

Rather, it shows that central banks are testing alternative architectures for cross-border settlement.

The distinction between experimentation and production deployment is especially important here.

What the Global CBDC Numbers Actually Tell Us

The headline numbers are impressive, but they require context.

146 countries and currency unions are exploring CBDCs as of May 2026.

77 are in an advanced phase, according to the Atlantic Council’s definition of development, pilot, or launch.

41 CBDC pilot projects are identified by the tracker.

Three countries—The Bahamas, Jamaica, and Nigeria—have fully launched retail CBDCs according to the same tracker.

85 of 93 central banks surveyed by the BIS were exploring retail CBDCs, wholesale CBDCs, or both in 2024.

These numbers show widespread experimentation, but they do not indicate that 146 countries are about to launch CBDCs.

That is perhaps the most important conclusion for anyone researching the global CBDC landscape.

What Countries Should Businesses Watch?

For businesses involved in fintech, payments, blockchain, banking technology, digital wallets, tokenization, or financial infrastructure, several markets deserve particular attention.

China is important because of the scale of its e-CNY program and its involvement in cross-border CBDC experimentation.

India is important because its digital rupee is being tested alongside one of the world’s largest existing instant-payment ecosystems.

Brazil is significant because Drex connects CBDC development with tokenization, programmable finance, and financial-market infrastructure.

The European Union is important because the digital euro could eventually become one of the world’s largest CBDC systems if issued across the euro area.

The United Kingdom is important because its design work could influence future retail CBDC models even though no issuance decision has yet been made.

The UAE is important for wholesale and cross-border CBDC experimentation, including its role in mBridge.

The Bahamas, Jamaica, and Nigeria remain important case studies because they provide real-world experience with launched retail CBDCs rather than theoretical or pilot-stage systems.

What Does CBDC Progress Mean for Fintech Companies?

CBDC development creates opportunities beyond simply building a digital currency.

Banks and payment providers may need new wallet infrastructure, identity and compliance systems, payment APIs, transaction-monitoring tools, merchant integration, cybersecurity controls, interoperability layers, and settlement technology.

Financial institutions may also need infrastructure capable of interacting with tokenized assets and wholesale CBDCs.

For technology companies, the opportunity may therefore exist around the ecosystem surrounding CBDCs rather than the CBDC ledger itself.

Potential areas include digital wallets, payment gateways, API integration, blockchain infrastructure, smart contracts, tokenization platforms, identity management, cybersecurity, compliance technology, and cross-border payment solutions.

However, businesses should avoid assuming that a CBDC rollout automatically creates a commercial opportunity. Each country’s architecture, regulatory framework, distribution model, and procurement process can be substantially different.

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How to Track CBDC Progress Accurately

Because CBDC programs change frequently, the most reliable approach is to distinguish between three types of sources.

First, use central banks and government institutions for official project status, technical specifications, pilot announcements, and legislation.

Second, use international organizations such as the BIS and IMF for comparative research, global surveys, and cross-country analysis.

Third, use reputable trackers such as the Atlantic Council for an aggregated global view.

This source hierarchy is especially important for content that is expected to rank in search results or be cited by AI systems.

A page that clearly identifies the status of each project—research, development, pilot, planned launch, or live—provides stronger factual signals than a generic list of countries.

The Future of CBDCs

The next phase of CBDC development is likely to focus less on simply proving that digital central bank money can work and more on whether it can deliver meaningful benefits at scale.

Interoperability will be critical.

A CBDC needs to interact with banks, payment providers, existing payment systems, digital wallets, identity systems, and potentially other CBDCs.

Tokenization may also become increasingly important.

If financial assets are represented on distributed ledgers, financial institutions may need programmable and efficient settlement assets. This is one reason wholesale CBDCs are receiving significant attention from central banks.

Privacy will remain another major issue.

Policymakers must balance fraud prevention, anti-money-laundering requirements, cybersecurity, and law-enforcement access with legitimate expectations of financial privacy.

Adoption will ultimately be the biggest test.

The early experiences of The Bahamas, Jamaica, and Nigeria show that making a CBDC available is only the beginning. The IMF has highlighted the importance of user education, merchant participation, banking integration, and incentives for intermediaries.

The countries that successfully combine policy design, reliable infrastructure, user experience, interoperability, and practical use cases are likely to provide the most valuable lessons for the next generation of CBDC projects.

Conclusion: Which Countries Are Launching CBDCs?

CBDC development is global, but the world is not experiencing one uniform “CBDC launch.”

As of May 2026, The Bahamas, Jamaica, and Nigeria are the three countries identified as having fully launched retail CBDCs.

China and India are among the most advanced large-scale pilot markets. Brazil is developing Drex with a strong emphasis on tokenization and programmable financial infrastructure. The European Union is preparing for a potential digital euro pilot and possible issuance in 2029, subject to legislation. The United Kingdom remains in its design phase with no decision to launch, while the UAE is active in both domestic and cross-border CBDC experimentation.

Globally, the direction is clear: central banks are devoting substantial resources to understanding how sovereign digital money could fit into an increasingly digital financial system.

But the ultimate measure of CBDC progress will not simply be the number of countries announcing projects.

It will be whether these systems deliver measurable improvements in payment efficiency, financial inclusion, interoperability, privacy, resilience, settlement, and user experience.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which countries have launched CBDCs?

As of May 2026, the Atlantic Council identifies three countries with fully launched retail CBDCs: The Bahamas, Jamaica, and Nigeria. Their CBDCs are the Sand Dollar, JAM-DEX, and eNaira, respectively.

How many countries are exploring CBDCs?

The Atlantic Council reported in May 2026 that 146 countries and currency unions were exploring CBDCs, representing more than 98% of global GDP. Of these, 77 were in an advanced stage of development, pilot, or launch.

Which country launched the first CBDC?

The Bahamas launched the Sand Dollar in October 2020 and became the first country to officially launch a nationwide retail CBDC.

Has China launched a CBDC?

China has a large-scale e-CNY pilot, but it should not be described as a fully launched nationwide retail CBDC in the same sense as the Sand Dollar, JAM-DEX, or eNaira. The IMF continues to classify China among jurisdictions conducting advanced CBDC experimentation.

Has India launched a digital rupee?

India has an active digital rupee pilot rather than a fully launched nationwide retail CBDC. The RBI has been testing retail and wholesale applications, including offline-payment capabilities.

What is Brazil’s CBDC called?

Brazil’s digital currency initiative is called Drex. The Banco Central do Brasil describes the Drex Pilot as a testing platform involving digital assets, tokenization, programmability, privacy, and financial-market use cases.

When will the digital euro launch?

The European Central Bank aims to be ready for potential first issuance of the digital euro during 2029, assuming the necessary legislation is adopted. A 12-month pilot is planned to begin in the second half of 2027. The ECB has not yet made a final decision to issue the digital euro.

Is the UK launching a digital pound?

The UK has not decided to launch a digital pound. The Bank of England and HM Treasury were continuing their design phase in 2026, with the design phase scheduled to conclude during 2026.

Are CBDCs based on blockchain?

Not necessarily. CBDCs can use different technical architectures, including distributed ledger technology, centralized systems, or hybrid designs. Brazil’s Drex and Project mBridge are examples of CBDC-related projects that use DLT, but blockchain is not a universal requirement for a CBDC.

What is the difference between a CBDC pilot and a CBDC launch?

A pilot is a controlled test of a CBDC with selected users, institutions, transactions, or use cases. A launch means the central bank has officially issued the CBDC for use within its jurisdiction. Because pilots can operate with limited users and simulated transactions, a country running a pilot should not automatically be described as having launched a CBDC.

Why are central banks developing CBDCs?

Central banks are exploring CBDCs for different reasons, including maintaining access to central bank money in an increasingly digital economy, improving payment infrastructure, supporting financial inclusion, exploring tokenized assets, and potentially improving cross-border settlement. The BIS found that preserving the role of central bank money amid declining cash use and rising asset tokenization was a key motivation for many central banks.

Are CBDCs replacing cash?

Not necessarily. CBDC projects differ by jurisdiction, and several central banks have explicitly presented CBDCs as complements to existing forms of money rather than immediate replacements for cash. The ECB, for example, describes the potential digital euro as a complement to cash.

Will every country launch a CBDC?

There is no evidence that every country will launch one. Although 146 countries and currency unions were exploring CBDCs as of May 2026, exploration does not guarantee issuance. Some jurisdictions may continue researching CBDCs, focus on wholesale applications, adopt other payment technologies, or decide that a retail CBDC does not provide sufficient benefits.

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