Some central banks have abandoned the digital currency race

There are at least four countries that have dropped or halted CBDC plans so far, and each central bank has its own reasoning for don't throw one.

As countries around the world race to launch a central bank digital currency (CBDC), some jurisdictions have slowed down or dropped out of the race altogether.

While many observers were pushing an emergency narrative around CBDCs, some countries decided there was no need to launch a CBDC at this time, while others tested CBDCs only for reject.

Each country had its own reasons, with global central banks providing vastly different insights into why their CBDC-related project didn't go well or didn't need to be launched first place.

Cointelegraph has selected four countries that have stopped or suspended their CBDC or CBDC-like initiatives based on publicly available data.

Denmark is one of the best European countries in terms of digital payments, as its population is much less dependent on cash than other European countries.

The Nordic country was also one of the first countries to explore the possibility of issuing a CBDC, with the Danish central bank expressing interest in issuing a digital currency in 2016. Danmarks Nationalbank then started working on the digitization of local fiat currency and the possible introduction of a digital Danish krone.

After just a year of research, the Danish central bank rejected the idea of ​​launching a CBDC, judging that it would do little to improve the country's financial infrastructure. The regulator argued that Denmark already had a "secure and efficient" payment infrastructure, which offered instant payment options.

“It is unclear how retail CBDCs will create significant added value compared to existing solutions in Denmark,” Danmarks Nationalbank said in a CBDC-related report in June 2022.

The central bank referred to the costs and...