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30 May, 2025
The Central Bank Digital Currency Race
Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) have progressed rapidly from theoretical research to live deployments and large-scale trials. As of early 2025, nearly 90 percent of the world’s central banks are actively investigating digital versions of their currencies, with more than 25 percent running pilot programs and almost ten jurisdictions already offering retail CBDCs to the public. Below is a regional breakdown of where the major players stand today.

Global Landscape

A recent Bank for International Settlements (BIS) survey found that 94 percent of central banks are researching CBDCs, and roughly one in four have moved beyond proof-of-concept into live testing or pilot phases. The International Monetary Fund projects that by 2030, as many as 15 economies may have fully issued retail CBDCs, underscoring the accelerating pace of adoption.

Asia-Pacific

  • China – e-CNY
    Launched in 2020, China’s digital yuan has expanded from a handful of pilot cities to full public availability in more than 25 metropolitan areas, with transaction volumes now measured in the trillions of yuan. Cross-border trials under Project mBridge link China with Thailand, Hong Kong and the UAE, exploring wholesale settlement without correspondent-bank corridors.
  • India – e-Rupee
    India’s central bank scaled its e-Rupee initiative significantly in fiscal 2024–25. Circulation grew more than fourfold to just over ₹1 trillion by March 2025. The Reserve Bank of India has signalled plans to test cross-border interoperability later this year, focusing on remittances and trade finance use cases.
  • Japan
    Among G20 economies, Japan remains in the “advanced exploration” stage, completing internal pilots and proof-of-concept work on both retail and wholesale applications. A decision on a nationwide rollout is expected following ongoing stakeholder consultations.

Europe

  • Euro Area – Digital Euro
    In March 2025, the European Central Bank published its Digital Euro Consultation Report, outlining retail use cases, privacy safeguards and offline-payment functionality. A large-scale pilot involving banks and fintech firms is slated to begin in late 2025, with a view to potential issuance by 2027.
  • United Kingdom – Digital Pound
    January 2025 saw the Bank of England launch its Digital Pound Lab, conducting experiments on programmability, offline payments and integration with existing payment rails. A public consultation is expected mid-year to refine design choices before any potential launch.

Americas

  • United States – Digital Dollar
    The Federal Reserve continues to study a U.S. CBDC but, under Fed Chair Jerome Powell, has set aside plans for a retail-scale project. Research remains focused on potential wholesale uses, including tokenized reserve-account frameworks, but no public pilot has been announced.
  • Bahamas – Sand Dollar
    One of the earliest retail CBDCs, the Sand Dollar went live in October 2020. It now operates nationwide, improving financial inclusion by linking digital wallets to existing mobile-money and agent networks.
  • Eastern Caribbean – DCash
    Launched in March 2021 by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, DCash covers eight member states. It has served as a template for currency-union CBDCs and has facilitated faster domestic payments across small-island economies.

Latin America & Africa

  • Brazil – DREX
    Brazil plans to roll out DREX—its digital real—by year-end 2024. The design leverages the existing instant-payment system (Pix) to foster programmable finance and broaden financial-inclusion targets in underbanked regions.
  • Nigeria – eNaira
    Africa’s first major CBDC debuted in October 2021. Uptake has been modest—less than 1 percent of the adult population uses it regularly—due to digital-infrastructure gaps and limited merchant acceptance.
  • Ghana – eCedi
    After a two-year pilot, Ghana’s central bank aims to launch the eCedi by late 2025. The focus is on reducing cash-handling costs and improving access to digital payments in rural areas.

Cross-Border & Wholesale Initiatives

Beyond retail applications, over a dozen wholesale CBDC projects are exploring multi-currency settlement without traditional correspondent banks. Project mBridge links several Asian and Gulf central banks, while other bilateral pilots examine tokenized central-bank reserves for interbank clearing and foreign-exchange settlements.

Conclusion

CBDCs are no longer confined to academic papers—they are live systems shaping the future of money. While China, India, the EU and the UK lead in retail experimentation, other economies continue research at varying speeds. Wholesale platforms are forging new pathways for cross-border payments, potentially reshaping global liquidity and reserve-asset frameworks. For policymakers, financial institutions and fintech innovators alike, monitoring CBDC developments is essential to understanding the evolving architecture of the monetary system.