This report gauges demand for central bank digital currencies by examining the attitudes of a significant segment of potential CBDC end-users. It is based on a CFA institute global membership survey.
CFA Institute Global Survey on Central Bank Digital Currencies
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Key Findings
- While many of the current studies on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) focus on the preferences of central banks (the “push”), our survey explores the demand side of this debate (the “pull”).
- We found limited understanding of and support for CBDCs. A global plurality of 42% of respondents believe that central banks should launch CBDCs, while 34% disagreed and nearly one in four (24%) expressed no opinion. Only 13% said they had a strong understanding of CBDCs.
- Global averages can obscure significant differences across geographic regions, levels of economic development, and age of respondents. The survey found significantly greater receptivity to CBDCs among younger respondents, those in the Asia-Pacific region, in developing economies, and in China and India. Developing markets placed greater emphasis than those in developed economies on the role of CBDCs in enhancing financial inclusion.
- In all markets, the top reason cited to support launching a CBDC was to accelerate payments and transfers. The chief concerns focused on three issues: cybersecurity and fraud, data privacy, and lack of use cases.
- Globally, a majority believes that CBDCs can coexist with private cryptocurrencies. This points to some dichotomy in results. While a large majority agrees that public trust in fiat money is suffering because of monetary policy, a solid majority also believes that private money will always be inferior to government money.
- Our conclusion explores some of the implications of the survey findings, identifying seven key issues and offering recommendations for central banks.