François Villeroy de Galhau, the Governor of the Bank of France, believes that a strong central bank digital currency will emerge in the next three years.
During a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Monday, Galhau was questioned if, in five years, “a central bank digital coin” will be utilized on a daily basis (whether wholesale or retail) and would become “a superior system.”
“We have several experiments which are not very far from that. They are not yet generalized but they could be, let’s say in the next three years. It will go quicker on the wholesale side I guess because it raises less sensitive questions.”
Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), chipped in, saying that CBCDs “will be pretty present in the world” in the next five years.
Existing projects such as the Bahamas Sand Dollar, Nigeria’s eNaira, and China’s digital Yuan were mentioned by the panel. Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput, governor of the Bank of Thailand, and Axel Lehmann, head of Credit Suisse, were among the other visitors.
Regarding stablecoins, Georgieva stated: “Some of them deserve the name because they’re backed by assets. And when they’re backed by assets one two one they’re really stable. (…) I do feel for the people who lost money because part of the reason they lost money is not really being well educated on this new investment world.”