Francois Villeroy De Galhau, Governor of Bank of France, stated that the world could see a strong central banking digital currency in the next three-years.
Galhau was asked Monday during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum Davos if there would be a “central bank digital coin” that could be used daily (whether wholesale or retail) and that would make it “a superior system.”
“We have many experiments that are not too far from that.” He said that although they aren’t yet universally applicable, they might be in the next three year, but he didn’t specify what these were. It will be quicker on the wholesale side, I believe, because it raises fewer sensitive questions.
Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of International Monetary Fund (IMF), chimed in. She stated that CBCDs would be “quite present” in five years.
The panel acknowledged existing projects such as the Bahamas Sand Dollar and Nigeria’s ENaira. The Bank of Thailand governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput, and Credit Suisse chairman Axel Lehmann were also present.
Georgieva appeared to be addressing the recent Terra network collapse by saying: “When someone promises you 20% returns on an investment that isn’t backed up by any assets, what would we normally call this thing?” It would be called a pyramid.
She also said that people shouldn’t be too quick to categorize everything in “digital money” in a negative light.
She spoke out about stablecoins and said that some of them are worthy of the name “because they’re backed with assets. They’re stable when they have assets backing them. (…) I feel sorry for those who have lost their money. Part of that is because they were not well-informed about this new investment world.
The IMF’s managing director stressed the importance of the wider digital assets space. He argued that it can offer more services, lower costs, and greater inclusion if it is properly regulated.
She added, “But only if you separate apples from bananas and oranges.”
