Currency Issuance & Digital Money
The capacity to issue and evolve the currency itself: the cash cycle, fast payment instruments and central bank digital money, the frontier on which monetary sovereignty is now contested.
- Indicators
- 3
- Leaders
- 10placeholder ratings
- Like it
- 8capabilities
- Developments
- 10
What Currency Issuance & Digital Money is, and how it is measured
The capacity to issue and evolve the currency itself: the cash cycle, fast payment instruments and central bank digital money, the frontier on which monetary sovereignty is now contested.
Indicators
- Central bank digital currency status
- Instant payment scheme adoption
- Currency in circulation to GDP
The nations that lead in Currency Issuance & Digital Money
These ratings stand in until the capability is rated.
| # | Nation | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | France | AAA |
| 2 | Japan | AA |
| 3 | South Korea | AA |
| 4 | Canada | A |
| 5 | China | A |
| 6 | United States | A |
| 7 | Netherlands | BBB |
| 8 | Singapore | BBB |
| 9 | Denmark | BB |
| 10 | Norway | BB |
The capabilities most like Currency Issuance & Digital Money
Likeness, from 0 to 1, as the Atlas measures it.
How Currency Issuance & Digital Money came to be
- Governance
- Technology
Historical Developments
Oldest first1990s
Bank of Finland issued the Avant stored value e-money card
Finland's central bank launched Avant, a stored-value electronic money card, decades before the term CBDC came into use. It is cited as an early precedent for central bank issued digital money.
2014
People's Bank of China began researching issuance of a CBDC
China's central bank started investigating a central bank digital currency, among the earliest major-economy programmes. The effort placed China at the front of the sovereign digital money frontier.
2014–18
Central Bank of Ecuador operated a state mobile payment system
Ecuador's central bank ran a mobile payment scheme for four years before closing it. It is among the earliest state-run digital money experiments and an early example of discontinuation.
2020
Ukraine highlighted the risk of disintermediating commercial banks
Ukrainian authorities focused on how a CBDC could draw deposits away from commercial banks. The concern shaped policy design debates about financial stability.
2021
Reserve Bank of Australia ran a wholesale CBDC proof of concept on Ethereum
Australia's central bank tokenised syndicated loans in a wholesale CBDC trial using Ethereum. The project tested automation and security for high-value interbank transactions.
Recent Developments
Most recent firstJune 2026
United States Congress passed a law prohibiting a retail Fed CBDC
Section 1101 of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act barred the Federal Reserve from issuing a digital asset that is a direct liability of the Fed and widely available to the public. The measure foreclosed a retail US CBDC, echoing subnational bans such as Florida's on privacy grounds.
March 2024
Central banks worldwide reached 134 countries evaluating national digital currencies
By this point central banks representing 98% of world GDP were at some stage of assessing a CBDC. The Bahamas, Jamaica and Nigeria had already launched live systems.
October 2023
ECB moved the digital euro to its preparation phase
After a two-year investigation, the European Central Bank advanced the digital euro towards potential issuance. The decision committed the eurozone to building the groundwork for sovereign digital money.
March 2023
Central Bank of Brazil began testing the digital real (Drex)
Brazil's central bank started rolling out pilot tests of a digital version of its currency. Drex became one of the larger emerging-economy CBDC programmes.
February 2023
UK Treasury and Bank of England said a digital pound would likely launch after 2025
British authorities set out a cautious timeline for a state-backed digital pound. The announcement contrasted with Switzerland's more sceptical stance at the same time.