BIS CBDC Survey 2024: What 93 Central Banks Reveal About Digital Currency

Understanding the 2024 BIS CBDC Survey Scope

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has published the results of its comprehensive 2024 survey on central bank digital currencies and cryptoassets, offering the most detailed snapshot yet of how the world’s monetary authorities are approaching digital money. This BIS CBDC survey polled 93 central banks between October and December 2024, with respondents representing approximately 78% of the world’s population and an extraordinary 94% of global GDP.

The survey builds on years of tracking by the BIS, with 73 of the 93 respondents also having participated in the 2023 edition. This continuity allows for meaningful trend analysis and reveals how quickly — or slowly — central banks are moving from research to implementation. The sample includes 28 advanced economies (AEs) and 65 emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs), providing a granular view of how different economic contexts shape digital currency strategies.

Perhaps the most striking headline from the BIS CBDC survey is that 91% of respondents — 85 out of 93 central banks — reported active engagement in some form of CBDC work. While this represents a slight percentage dip from 94% in 2023, the absolute number of engaged central banks actually rose from 81 to 85. This suggests that the global momentum behind central bank digital currency exploration remains strong and continues to broaden, even as some jurisdictions refine their approaches. For a deeper exploration of how digital finance is transforming institutions, visit Libertify’s interactive library.

Retail CBDC Adoption: Where Central Banks Stand

Retail CBDCs — digital currencies designed for everyday use by individuals and businesses — remain a central focus for the majority of surveyed central banks, though progress varies significantly by region. According to the BIS CBDC survey, 48% of respondents are currently running experiments or proofs of concept for retail CBDC, while 19% have advanced to the pilot stage. Only 3% are actively preparing for live issuance.

As of the end of 2024, just three jurisdictions have operational retail CBDCs: The Bahamas with its Sand Dollar, Jamaica with JAM-DEX, and Nigeria with the eNaira. These early movers are all emerging market economies, reflecting a pattern where EMDEs have generally moved faster toward live deployment. The data shows that 4% of EMDE central banks have live retail CBDCs versus 0% in advanced economies, and 21% of EMDEs are piloting compared to 15% of AEs.

However, advanced economies dominate in the experimental phase, with 85% of AE central banks conducting retail CBDC experiments or proofs of concept. The most commonly envisioned use cases span person-to-person payments (81% of respondents), point-of-sale transactions (79%), and government-to-person payments (79%). Interestingly, emerging markets see much broader potential: 73% of EMDEs envision business-to-person use cases compared to just 41% of AEs, suggesting that developing economies view retail CBDCs as tools for comprehensive financial system modernization.

Wholesale CBDC Development Leads the Race

One of the central bank digital currency survey’s most significant findings is that wholesale CBDC projects have reached more advanced stages than their retail counterparts. Wholesale CBDCs — designed for interbank settlements and financial market transactions — are attracting serious investment from central banks worldwide. In advanced economies, 38% are running wholesale CBDC pilots and 17% are developing a live wholesale system. These figures significantly outpace retail CBDC progress in the same jurisdictions.

The primary use cases for wholesale CBDCs center on interbank payment settlement (84% of respondents working on wholesale), delivery versus payment for securities transactions (77%), and payment versus payment for foreign exchange operations (70%). These applications address real inefficiencies in existing financial infrastructure, where settlement delays and counterparty risks remain costly problems.

A notable trend is the convergence of wholesale CBDC development with tokenisation of traditional financial assets. Of those central banks planning DLT-based wholesale CBDCs, 66% expect the platform to support multiple digital assets including tokenised securities and deposits. This vision of a unified digital settlement layer represents a fundamental rethinking of financial market infrastructure that could reduce costs, increase speed, and enable new forms of programmable finance. The European Central Bank’s digital euro project exemplifies this dual retail-wholesale approach being pursued by major monetary authorities.

How Stablecoins and Crypto Are Accelerating CBDC Work

The BIS CBDC survey reveals a fascinating dynamic: the rise of private-sector stablecoins and cryptoassets is directly accelerating central bank digital currency development. Among central banks actively working on wholesale CBDCs, 43% report having stepped up their efforts specifically in response to stablecoin and crypto developments. For retail CBDCs, the figure stands at 35%.

Current stablecoin usage for real-world payments remains limited outside the crypto ecosystem. Most central banks report trivial or negligible stablecoin use in their jurisdictions. Where adoption exists, it tends to be concentrated in niche applications: domestic retail payments (reported by 20% of respondents as having at least niche use), remittances (21%), and cross-border retail payments (20%). A small number of EMDE central banks reported wider stablecoin use, particularly for remittances.

The institutional adoption of stablecoins is also emerging, though still in early stages. Commercial banks that have issued their own stablecoins were reported by 8% of central bank respondents, with notable examples including ANZ in Australia, KBC in Belgium, BTG Pactual in Brazil, and Société Générale in France. However, the use of stablecoins by traditional financial market infrastructures as collateral, investment vehicles, or settlement mechanisms remains negligible. This gap between private innovation and public infrastructure is precisely what many central banks hope CBDCs will address.

Cross-Border Payments and CBDC Interoperability

Enhancing cross-border payments has emerged as one of the most compelling motivations for wholesale CBDC development, and the BIS CBDC survey data illustrates why. Current international payment systems are often slow, expensive, and opaque — problems that tokenised settlement on interoperable CBDC platforms could substantially mitigate.

Interoperability ambitions vary significantly between advanced and emerging economies. For retail CBDCs, 79% of EMDE central banks prioritize interoperability with domestic payment systems compared to 56% of AEs. When it comes to cross-border interoperability with foreign CBDCs, 46% of EMDEs are exploring this versus 39% of AEs. The pattern is even more pronounced for wholesale CBDCs: 65% of EMDEs envision interoperability with other jurisdictions’ wholesale CBDCs compared to 44% of AEs.

These figures reflect the different payment realities facing developing economies, where remittance corridors are vital economic lifelines and where existing cross-border payment infrastructure is often less developed. Multi-CBDC platforms such as Project mBridge, coordinated through the BIS Innovation Hub, are testing how wholesale CBDCs from different jurisdictions can interoperate seamlessly. The potential to reduce remittance costs — which the World Bank estimates average around 6.2% globally — could have transformative effects on developing economies. To understand how digital transformation impacts financial services, explore related reports in Libertify’s interactive library.

CBDC Design Features: Technology and Architecture

The technological choices central banks are making for their CBDCs reveal much about their strategic priorities. For wholesale CBDCs, distributed ledger technology (DLT) is the clear frontrunner: 56% of advanced economy central banks and 54% of EMDE central banks envisage wholesale CBDC on DLT platforms. The central bank is expected to operate these platforms in 83% of cases, though 28% see potential for joint public-private operation.

Retail CBDC technology choices diverge more dramatically between regions. Only 6% of advanced economy central banks are considering DLT for retail CBDC, compared to 40% in emerging markets — a stark gap that reflects different infrastructure starting points and risk appetites. Regardless of the underlying technology, key design features under consideration include offline payment capability (supported by 56-58% of central banks), programmable payments (44% in both AEs and EMDEs), and holding limits to manage monetary policy implications (56% AEs, 63% EMDEs).

Distribution channels predominantly flow through commercial banks (65-67% of respondents) and non-bank payment service providers (54-56%). Notably, 40% of respondents from both economic groups are considering retail CBDCs usable without a bank account — a feature with significant implications for financial inclusion. On fees, half of advanced economy central banks envision basic retail CBDC services as free to consumers, while this drops to 29% in EMDEs, where cost recovery considerations may play a larger role.

Regional Differences in Central Bank Digital Currency Strategy

The central bank digital currency survey highlights pronounced regional variations in CBDC strategy that reflect underlying economic structures and policy priorities. Advanced economies tend to approach CBDCs with greater caution, emphasizing extensive experimentation before moving to pilots. Their focus leans toward wholesale applications and ensuring compatibility with existing sophisticated payment infrastructures.

Emerging market economies, by contrast, are often moving faster toward deployment, particularly for retail CBDCs. This acceleration is driven by distinct motivations: promoting financial inclusion among unbanked populations, reducing dependence on foreign payment systems, and modernizing payment infrastructure that may lack the efficiency of advanced economy systems. The survey shows EMDEs are significantly more likely to consider mandatory merchant acceptance obligations (58% vs 33% for AEs) and transaction limits (60% vs 28%).

Capital flow management measures present another area of divergence. While 35% of EMDE central banks exploring wholesale CBDCs consider capital flow management features, only 6% of AE central banks do the same. Similarly, EMDEs are more likely to require mandatory participation by payment service providers (35% vs 6%), reflecting a more interventionist approach to ensuring CBDC ecosystem viability. These differences underscore that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to central bank digital currency — each jurisdiction must calibrate its design to local economic conditions and policy objectives.

Legal Frameworks and Regulatory Readiness for CBDCs

Legal preparedness for CBDC issuance varies enormously across jurisdictions, and the BIS CBDC survey provides the most comprehensive picture yet of this regulatory landscape. For retail CBDCs, 42% of EMDE central banks report having adequate legal authority already in place, compared to just 4% of AE central banks. This disparity partly reflects different legal traditions and the complexity of existing financial regulations in advanced economies.

Among advanced economies, 29% are actively changing laws to accommodate or clarify CBDC issuance authority, while 14% of EMDEs are doing the same. Approximately 20% of AE central banks and 25% of EMDE central banks acknowledge that they currently lack the legal basis for retail CBDC issuance entirely. This legal gap represents a significant barrier to deployment timelines, as legislative processes typically move much slower than technological development.

The regulatory dimension extends beyond issuance authority to encompass consumer protection, data privacy, anti-money laundering compliance, and financial stability safeguards. Central banks must navigate complex tradeoffs between enabling innovation and maintaining the trust and stability that underpin their core mandates. The survey reveals that these regulatory considerations are increasingly central to CBDC project timelines, with many jurisdictions proceeding cautiously to ensure robust legal frameworks before advancing to live deployment.

Key Motivations Driving Central Bank Digital Currency Projects

Understanding why central banks are investing in digital currencies is essential for interpreting the BIS CBDC survey’s findings. The dominant motivation, cited as important or very important by approximately 80% of central banks for retail and 75% for wholesale, is preserving the role of central bank money. As cash usage declines globally and private digital payment solutions proliferate, central banks face a strategic imperative to maintain public access to sovereign money.

For wholesale CBDCs specifically, enhancing cross-border payment efficiency has gained significant traction as a motivation. The rise of tokenisation — the representation of traditional financial assets as digital tokens on shared ledgers — provides additional impetus. Central banks see wholesale CBDCs as the settlement foundation for increasingly tokenised financial markets, where securities, bonds, and other instruments exist as programmable digital assets.

Financial inclusion remains a powerful driver, particularly in emerging markets where large portions of the population remain unbanked or underbanked. The survey data shows EMDEs consistently rating inclusion-related motivations higher than AEs. Additionally, responding to competitive pressure from stablecoins and cryptoassets has become an explicit motivation for over a third of central banks. Rather than viewing CBDCs purely as defensive measures, many institutions see them as opportunities to modernize monetary systems and create new public digital infrastructure for the 21st century. You can explore more insights on digital finance transformation in the Libertify interactive library.

The Road Ahead: CBDC Projections and Policy Implications

The 2024 BIS CBDC survey paints a picture of a global financial system in transition. While only three jurisdictions have live retail CBDCs today, the pipeline of projects in pilot and advanced experimental stages suggests that several more launches are likely in the coming years. The convergence of wholesale CBDC development with tokenisation trends points toward a future where digital central bank money serves as the trusted settlement layer for increasingly digital and programmable financial markets.

Several critical challenges remain. The legal readiness gap identified in the survey means that many jurisdictions — particularly advanced economies — face extended timelines before deployment is possible. Technology choices, especially the extent of DLT adoption, will shape the interoperability and scalability of CBDC systems. Privacy and data protection considerations continue to influence public acceptance, with central banks needing to balance transparency requirements against legitimate expectations of transactional privacy.

The interaction between CBDCs and the private stablecoin ecosystem will be decisive. The survey’s finding that stablecoins are already accelerating CBDC timelines suggests a competitive dynamic that could ultimately benefit consumers through better, faster, and cheaper payment options. Whether CBDCs and stablecoins coexist, compete, or converge will depend on regulatory frameworks still being developed across jurisdictions. What is clear from the BIS data is that central bank digital currencies have moved decisively from theoretical exploration to practical implementation planning, marking a new chapter in the evolution of money.