Only 5% of Swedes used cash for their most recent purchase—the Riksbank has revived the debate over an electronic krona (e-krona): either make the krona digital, or lose ground to stablecoins and the digital euro.
Deputy Governor Per Jansson put it plainly to Reuters: if the krona has no usable digital form once cash is digitized, it may struggle to compete with more convenient cross-border payment tools. The central bank has not decided whether to issue one, but it has asked parliament to begin preparing legislation now—because building the system will take at least five years.
Two signals are worth noting: 1) The central bank acknowledges that foreign-currency stablecoins could weaken demand for the domestic currency: “The risk is low for now, but there is a long-term threat”; 2) The e-krona proposal would support offline payments, serving as a backup during power or internet outages. CBDCs are being treated as part of the payment infrastructure, not as speculative assets.
For ordinary users: a CBDC is not an “official coin” and won’t appreciate in value. It competes with Alipay and stablecoins for payment business. The global race among central banks to develop CBDCs is accelerating (the digital euro could launch in 2029), and regulated stablecoins may end up among the biggest beneficiaries.
#CBDC #BTC #ETH
Deputy Governor Per Jansson put it plainly to Reuters: if the krona has no usable digital form once cash is digitized, it may struggle to compete with more convenient cross-border payment tools. The central bank has not decided whether to issue one, but it has asked parliament to begin preparing legislation now—because building the system will take at least five years.
Two signals are worth noting: 1) The central bank acknowledges that foreign-currency stablecoins could weaken demand for the domestic currency: “The risk is low for now, but there is a long-term threat”; 2) The e-krona proposal would support offline payments, serving as a backup during power or internet outages. CBDCs are being treated as part of the payment infrastructure, not as speculative assets.
For ordinary users: a CBDC is not an “official coin” and won’t appreciate in value. It competes with Alipay and stablecoins for payment business. The global race among central banks to develop CBDCs is accelerating (the digital euro could launch in 2029), and regulated stablecoins may end up among the biggest beneficiaries.
#CBDC #BTC #ETH