World Economic Forum to help banks make digital currencies

The World Economic Forum yesterday announced a new framework to guide central banks in creating central bank-issued digital currencies.

The Swiss non-profit, that comprises some of the world’s largest companies, developed the framework—called the “CBDC Policy-Maker Toolkit”—with over a dozen central banks, as well as many financial institutions, academic researchers and international organizations. 

The new toolkit was announced at Davos, Switzerland, where the WEF is hosting its annual forum that brings together heads of state and CEOs of some of the world’s largest companies.

The new framework is supposed to “lay common groundwork” for central banks, and to help them create “stable support stable, efficient and inclusive global systems that might include CBDCs," according to the statement.

Through worksheets, information guides, and analysis, the WEF claims the toolkit covers it all. “[It] is the first of its kind to provide a concise summary of the key issues for policy-makers,” said Ashley Lannquist, Project Lead, at the World Economic Forum.

Both the Bank of Thailand and the Central Bank of Bahrain have agreed to use the toolkit. “We hope that it will be an opportunity to learn, grow and to adapt to the changes in the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” said Rasheed al Maraj, Governor, Central Bank of Bahrain, in a statement.

“Given the critical roles central banks play in the global economy, any central bank digital currency implementation, including potentially with blockchain technology, will have a profound impact domestically and internationally,” said Sheila Warren, Head of Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology at the World Economic Forum. Tell that to China, which thinks blockchain will lead the fourth industrial revolution.