#13: Digital Currencies: Coexistence or Competition

CBDC Broadcast

5 Jan

12th January 2023

With:

| Catherine Gu (Visa)

| Carmelle Cadet (Emtech)

In this session, Catherine Gu (Visa) and Carmelle Cadet (EMTECH) join FNA to explore the "Great Convergence" of digital money. As central banks accelerate retail CBDC (rCBDC) pilots, they face a marketplace already occupied by stablecoins and deeply entrenched commercial bank systems.

Our guests analyze the lessons learned from early movers like Nigeria (eNaira) and the Bahamas (Sand Dollar), highlighting why technical deployment is only half the battle. They discuss the strategic "Roadblocks to Integration"—from legacy infrastructure gaps to the lack of consumer incentives—and examine how jurisdictions can "blend" digital currencies to protect monetary sovereignty without stifling the innovation driven by private-sector stablecoins.

Key Discussion Points:

The Interoperability Mandate: How global payment networks like Visa view rCBDCs as a complementary layer rather than a replacement.
Lessons from the "Frontier": Analyzing the adoption hurdles in China, Nigeria, and the Bahamas to identify the "Missing Link" in user engagement.
Sovereignty vs. Stablecoins: Why the rise of private digital assets is forcing central banks to modernize or risk losing control over domestic monetary policy.
The Merchant Use Case: Identifying the specific pain points—such as instant settlement and lower fees—that will drive retail adoption.
Future Projections: Short and long-term predictions on the market share of CBDCs versus "challenger" forms of money.

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