Two central banks agree to issue digital currencies to rival Bitcoin

Central banks are working on issuing digital currencies to counter the emerging Bitcoin, according to a recent press release. Philanthropic investment firm Omidyar Network announced today that it has invested in eCurrency Mint , a relatively unknown startup that is developing technology that will allow central banks to issue digital fiat currencies, called eCurrency .

According to the Wall Street Journal, Jonathan Dharmapalan, founder and CEO of eCM, said that eCurrency Mint has held meetings with more than 30 central banks, two of which have agreed to issue digital currencies. eCurrency will have equal legal and monetary status with legal tender.

Tilman Ehrbeck, partner at Omidyar Network , said that eCurrency can promote financial inclusion by transforming today's digital value systems into national currencies backed by sovereigns. In addition, it can also increase trust and solve some key issues that currently hinder the acceptance of digital value systems, such as interoperability.

Economic Benefits

The press release also states that eCurrency could save governments and taxpayers money: the cost of minting and issuing digital currency is expected to be one-tenth of the cost of printing, securing, issuing and destroying paper currency.

A survey conducted by Citigroup and Imperial College showed that a mere 10% increase in the use of digital currencies in 90 countries could generate $150 billion in additional consumer spending and more than $100 billion in tax revenue.

The support of the central bank has greatly increased the confidence in the use of digital currencies. So far, most people around the world still prefer traditional payment methods, such as cash and credit cards. In addition, the improvement of the security and interoperability of the digital currencies issued by the central bank is also a matter of great concern to people.

We all know that all this is done to counter Bitcoin. After all, not all central governments are keen on Bitcoin becoming a major global cryptocurrency. But are digital currencies really ready to impact Bitcoin? Only time will tell.