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A Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) is a digital form of a country's fiat currency. In simple terms, it's a digital version of cash issued by a country’s central bank.
India has a CBDC as well, known as the Digital Rupee (e₹). It acts as a legal tender and works as a safe and digital representation of cash that can be used for transactions.
Introduced through a pilot project in 2022, the use of CBDC has increased significantly in the last few years. Let’s look at some other countries that have a digital currency.
The Bahamas has a digital Bahamian dollar, known as SandDollar, which is accessible via mobile app or card in the country. It was launched in 2020 to enhance financial inclusion.
Nigeria's CBDC, called eNaira, was launched in 2021 and is the digital form of Naira. It was launched to improve payment efficiency and facilitate cross-border transactions.
CBDC issued by the Bank of Jamaica is the digital version of the country's currency, known as JAM-DEX. It was launched in 2022 after a successful pilot program in 2021.
In 2022, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe introduced the country’s CBDC, known as ZiG. It is a gold-backed currency that was launched as a means to fight hyperinflation.
China has conducted large-scale pilots for its digital currency e-CNY. While China’s adoption of its CBDC is slow, as it was initially introduced in 2019, it is the world’s largest pilot.
Many other countries, including Sweden, Russia, South Korea, Singapore, Ghana and Kazakhstan, are testing their CBDCs and aiming to introduce them in the near future.
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