Central Bank Digital Currencies, or CBDC, may just be one of the most important trends over the next decade claims Visa’s head of crypto.
Cuy Sheffield, who runs credit card giant Visa’s crypto projects, tweeted that “as governments evaluate CBDC, the path they decide to take will have major implications for privacy, monetary sovereignty, geopolitics, and financial inclusion, as well as global adoption of crypto dollars and Bitcoin.” He said:
“I'd argue that central bank digital currency (CBDC) is one of the most important trends for the future of money and payments over the next decade. Regardless of anyone's personal views of whether it's good or bad, the reality is that global interest in it is not going away.”
Sheffield has been a proponent of CBDC for a while now. In May, Sheffield said central banks are not interested in consumer-facing digital currency solutions. Visa has not been shy about its interest in digital currencies. The company filed a digital currency patent application earlier this year.
Central banks have been experimenting with the idea of offering digital currencies themselves. The Bank of Japan announced it would test out the feasibility of a digital Yen to see if it can provide universal access and resilience to those who want to use the virtual currency. Japan is just one of a handful of countries looking at digital currencies. China could be coming out with a digital Yuan soon though no date has been revealed yet.