By Marc Jones

LONDON (Reuters) – A complete of 134 international locations representing 98% of the worldwide economic system at the moment are exploring digital variations of their currencies, with virtually half at a complicated stage and pioneers like China, the Bahamas and Nigeria beginning to see a decide up in utilization.

The analysis by the U.S.-based Atlantic Council think-tank revealed on Tuesday confirmed that each one G20 nations at the moment are wanting into central financial institution digital currencies (CBDCs) as they’re recognized and that 44 international locations in complete are piloting them.

That’s up from 36 a yr in the past and is a part of a worldwide push by authorities to reply to declining money utilization and the risk to their money-printing powers from the likes of bitcoin and ‘Massive Tech’.

The Atlantic Council’s Josh Lipsky and Ananya Kumar mentioned probably the most noteable developments this yr has been the sizable enhance within the Bahamas, Jamaica and Nigeria’s CBDCs, the one three international locations which have already launched them.

China too, which is working the world’s largest pilot scheme, has seen use of its protype e-CNY almost quadruple to 7 trillion yuan ($987 billion) of transactions in line with officers.

“There was a story that the international locations which have launched CBDCs have seen low or no utilization, however within the final months we have now seen an actual uptake,” Lipsky mentioned.

“My predication is that the PBOC (China’s central financial institution) might be near full launch a yr from now,” he added.

Different massive advances have been the European Central Financial institution’s launch of a multi-year digital euro pilot and the USA, which has lengthy dragged its toes on a digital greenback, becoming a member of a cross-border CBDC challenge with six different main central banks.

It nonetheless lags far behind almost each different main financial institution nevertheless Lipsky highlighted that it is likely one of the international locations the place privateness and different issues about CBDCs are most vocal.

In Might, the U.S. Home of Representatives handed a invoice prohibiting the direct issuance of a ‘retail’ CBDC – the kind utilized by the general public. The Senate has not but acted, however it stays a dwell situation within the presidential election marketing campaign between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the G7 sanctions response, ‘wholesale’ bank-to-bank solely CBDC tasks have greater than doubled in quantity to 13.

The quickest rising one, codenamed mBridge, connects CBDCs from China, Thailand, the UAE, Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia and is anticipated to develop to extra international locations this yr.

Russia is unlikely to be one in all them however its digital rouble pilot means it’s now accepted within the Moscow metro and in some petrol stations. Iran can also be engaged on a digital rial.

“It doesn’t matter what occurs with the U.S. election, the Fed is years behind,” Lipsky mentioned.

($1 = 7.0930 renminbi)