The Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) chief called on the U.S. and Europe to cooperate on creating a global technical standard for a central bank digital currency (CBDC), Reuters reported on Friday.
Fast facts
- The central bank has not made a decision on the issuance of a CBDC, but has conducted experiments while deliberating on the designs, BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said during a parliament session on Friday.
- Kuroda said Japan might be ready to make a decision on a digital yen launch by 2026.
- Like Japan, the U.S. Federal Reserve has not made a decision on the launch of a digital dollar, but its latest discussion paper called for public comments from local stakeholders.
- The European Central Bank launched the digital euro project in July last year, to prepare for the issuance if necessary, but has not committed to a decision.
- The first phase of Japan’s CBDC experiment started in April last year, and will transition into the second phase in the coming April.
- In the Japanese parliament session, the finance minister said Tokyo is keeping a close eye on the development of China’s digital yuan.