Banks in a World with Retail Central Bank Digital Currency

On September 29, 2021, Alma Angotti, a Guidehouse partner, participated in a panel on “Banks in a World with Retail Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)” for the Internet and Mobile Association of India’s Global FinTech Fest 2021. 

As interest in cryptocurrencies has grown over the past several years, many central banks have begun exploring issuing their own digital currencies, or CBDCs. According to Angotti, this is a technology that “can make transactions faster, simpler, and cheaper for people.” However, she said, “There are four things that have to be done correctly. We will have to be sensitive to financial crime, consumer protection, transaction privacy—which may be different than anonymity—and stability."

Angotti joined an expert panel consisting of CoinSwitch Kuber co-founder and CEO Ashish Singhal; B Sambamurthy, former director and CEO of the Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology; Andrius Bartminas, co-founder and CEO of Super How?; and Gabriella Kusz, who serves on the board of directors of the Global Digital Asset and Cryptocurrency Association. They discussed how to successfully implement CBDCs and their potential impact on the traditional banking system.

Special thanks to Nick Bohmann for contributing to this article.