The Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) published its phase 1 evaluation report of its CBDC project in December 2023 having completed proof of concept studies and a pilot phase run as an R&D project. In the pilot, first payment transactions on the Digital Turkish Lira System were executed successfully. This report shared design choices and approaches adopted in this stage of the project.

A new paper by the European Money & Finance Forum (SUERF) examines the importance of words. It examines the words and language used to in current economic and policy discussions of these developments in digital money and payments because their use is causing confusion.

A recent survey has shown that the Israeli public is open to using a Digital Shekel. While 51% of respondents had either a high or intermediate interest in the digital currency, privacy did not rank as particularly important, and interest in the CBDC increased with age.

OMFIF, in partnership with Giesecke+Devrient, is publishing a report in February exploring the factors contributing to the hesitation about launching a CBDC and what concerns central banks struggle with. In the report’s survey of central banks, 81% of respondents have issued or expect to issue a CBDC at some point, with 47% expecting to issue one within five years.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) has published the results of its consultation on a possible CBDC. The consultation had the highest response rate of any RBNZ survey, with more than 500 individuals and groups writing in, as well as 18,000 online survey responses.

Programmable payments are often talked about in the context of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), but they are possible with any digital payment. The Federal Reserve of Atlanta has written a useful blog explaining them.

The European Central Bank (ECB) is half-way through its assessment work about whether to launch a CBDC. This has involved extensive consultation. It has published its second progress report on its preparation phase of a digital euro.

Bank Indonesia (BI) has published a paper on a technical proof of concept (PoC) for a wholesale CBDC (wCBDC). BI had compared R3’s Corda enterprise blockchain and Ethereum-based Hyperledger Besu, but the report did not make a definitive choice at this stage.

Russia’s Ministry of Industry wants a two year transition before mandatory adoption of a digital ruble. It is concerned that the necessary infrastructure is not ready. It is currently planned to become mandatory for large retailers by July 2025.

The Deputy Governor of Norges Bank, Pal Longva, has said that Norway has ‘no urgency’ around its digital currency initiatives. Norway has completed four stages of CBDC investigation. It is now concentrating on applications of wholesale CBDCs in a fifth phase of work to be completed by the end of 2025.