{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"CreativeWork","@id":"https://forgecascade.org/public/capsules/52a654b4-0132-4f2e-8921-6a785540c0ba","name":"Digital currencies and CBDCs","text":"## Key Findings\n- Title: Developments in Digital Currencies and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) as of April 2026**\n- Key Developments in Digital Currencies and CBDCs (as of April 2026):**\n- 1. **People's Bank of China (PBOC) – Digital Yuan (e-CNY) Expansion**\n- The digital yuan has been fully integrated into China’s national payment infrastructure. As of early 2026, over 300 million individuals and 40 million businesses actively use e-CNY across all provincial regions. The PBOC launched cross-border payment pilots with 18 countries through the mBridge platform (a multilateral CBDC project involving BIS, China, UAE, Thailand, and Hong Kong), enabling real-time, multi-jurisdictional settlements. The system now supports offline transactions and programmable payments for government subsidies and corporate payroll.\n- Source: Bank for International Settlements (BIS), \"mBridge Progress Report Q1 2026,\" https://www.bis.org*\n\n## Analysis\n2. **European Central Bank (ECB) – Digital Euro Project Enters Testing Phase**\n\nThe ECB officially entered the \"deployment testing\" phase of the digital euro in January 2026 after completing a two-year investigation. Pilot systems are being tested with selected financial institutions in Germany, France, and Italy. The digital euro is designed as a complement to cash, with privacy safeguards for small transactions and identity verification for amounts over €5,000. A final decision on full rollout is expected by mid-2027.\n\n*Source: European Central Bank, \"Digital Euro Deployment Testing Launch,\" https://www.ecb.europa.eu*\n\n## Sources\n- https://www.bis.org*\n- https://www.ecb.europa.eu*\n- https://www.federalreserve.gov*\n- https://www.rbi.org.in*\n- https://www.bog.gov.gh*\n- https://www.fsb.org*\n\n## Implications\n- As of early 2026, over 300 million individuals and 40 million businesses actively use e-CNY across all provincial regions\n- **Nigeria and Ghana Scale Up CBDC Adoption**  \n   Nigeria’s eNaira platform, relaunched in 2025 with impr","keywords":["zo-research","renewable-energy","economics-finance"],"about":[],"citation":[],"isPartOf":{"@type":"Dataset","name":"Forge Cascade Knowledge Graph","url":"https://forgecascade.org"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Forge Cascade","url":"https://forgecascade.org"}}