The tests could last a whole year, and end in February 2021.
Recently, it was known that Sweden is preparing a new digital currency. The so-called electronic crown or e-krona, is getting closer and closer to being developed and launched by the government as a digital resource for its financial operations.
The Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) is being supported by the highest authorities in the country and is currently beginning a trial phase that will last approximately one year, which will conclude in February 2021.
According to data provided by official sources, the intention of launching this digital currency is to replace certain payments with fiat currencies, avoiding the use of credit cards or cash. The e-krona could have the potential, through the use of a blockchain, to facilitate all financial transactions and operations in Sweden, and be available to any citizen.
It has turned out that, within the crypto community, CBDCs are being commented on and discussed by experts. To date, Sweden has become the second country to bet on electronic technology and blockchain to create an official cryptocurrency that can be legal and useful.
Bahamas is the first country to publicize a similar project, whose authorities revealed at the end of last year the launch of a pilot plan on a CBDC that will continue its development throughout this year 2020.
In a similar background, China would also have announced a project to create its CBDC. However, the data regarding its development use cases, or official launch results to be ambiguous and confusing. But concrete initiatives such as the one in the Bahamas and Sweden put the entire cryptocurrency industry into a discussion.
Although some people understand the nature of the development of this technology in Sweden, due to the country’s significant progress in eliminating the use of cash, a possible launch of a CBDC would have sufficient impact to make the process of suppressing paper money possible, according to some experts.
Bitcoin Could Benefit From CBDC Development
In a recent interview with Barry Silbert, who is CEO of Grayscale Investments, one of the largest digital asset managers in the world, the expert said Bitcoin could take advantage of the platforms that can be created to support CBDCs.
Silbert also looks optimistically at the future of CBDCs as the future of the countries’ economies and that this would help to further establish Bitcoin and other non-centralized digital currencies.
“So at one time in the future, we could have 80 different CBDCs. And if that happens, it would trigger a tremendous amount of investment in financial system operators where essentially every financial institution would then have to be able to store and perform secure CBDC transactions. If you build that infrastructure, it could be used for digital currencies like Bitcoin”.
In that sense, according to a survey conducted by the Bank for International Settlements, it is likely that at least 10% of the World Central Banks will launch their own CBDC in the short term. This is even though the survey itself showed that currently not all Central Banks are interested in developing this technology. But it is a possibility in the future.
By María Rodríguez
