The pilot study announced by the Digital Dollar Project also received support from Accenture. The aim of this collaboration is to explore and experiment with a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the United States, marking the latest private sector initiative by the Digital Dollar Project.
According to the official press release, in the current landscape of international payments, retail cross-border remittances play an important role in supporting millions of recipients worldwide who receive payments from US-based customers. To assess the potential benefits of using CBDCs for cross-border remittances, the pilot study involved a leading global payments player employing distributed ledger technology (DLT) to simulate the infrastructure needed for transferring digital dollars to Philippine pesos. The findings and insights from this study have been documented in the Digital Dollar Project's whitepaper titled ‘Retail Cross-Border Remittance Payments.’
In the press release, representatives from the Digital Dollar Project highlighted the importance of the pilot study as a step towards understanding the impact and gathering relevant data for real-world CBDC use cases in retail settings. The collaboration with Western Union and other partners aims to support research efforts that resonate with financial institutions, policymakers, and technology partners.
Officials from Western Union emphasised the advantages identified during the pilot study for customers and financial institutions. These advantages include reduced risk through instant settlement across multiple currencies, optimised cost with CBDC settlement enabling single transaction value and message transfer, an improved customer experience benefiting the unbanked and underbanked, and improved transaction visibility through the use of a permissioned ledger.
The key findings from this pilot study can act as a foundation for future experiments, defining the essential components of a cross-border remittance system using distributed ledger technology, including CBDC issuance, transaction management, hosted customer wallets, and currency exchange. Moreover, government agencies could leverage these findings to develop and scale a potential US CBDC in practical business scenarios.
Other developments from the Digital Dollar Project
According to ffnews.com, in July 2023, the Digital Dollar Project (DDP) released the first in a series of risk- and privacy-focused working papers named ‘Secure Adoption of a Digital Dollar – Operational and Compliance Risks for the US Banking Sector.’
This working paper offers a draft unified risk framework outlining possible impacts on the private sector, specific to federal and state-chartered banks, in consideration of a potential U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC). The working paper is meant to encourage broad public discussion.
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