Which Countries Run National Digital Currencies?
… and why they have nothing to do with crypto
CBDC
Saudi Arabia Ends mBridge Participation After Completing CBDC Payment Trial
Saudi Arabia has ended its participation in mBridge, a China-led cross-border payments project using central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), after completing a proof of concept in May 2025.
ECB Opens Digital Euro Pilot to Online and Mobile Merchants
The European Central Bank (ECB) has opened its digital euro pilot to online and mobile commerce merchants across the euro area, giving businesses an opportunity to test how the proposed central bank digital currency could work in real payment environments.
China’s Digital Yuan Bank Network Triples to 30 Institutions
China’s digital yuan e-CNY network expansion tripled in less than a year showing how quickly central-bank digital currencies (CBDCs) can scale.
Europe’s Digital Euro Push Reflects 2026 National Endeavours to Bypass Visa & Mastercard
Three different regions made their movements this month to reduce dependence on the two global companies that process most of the world’s card payments. On the surface, they may look unrelated, but together, a pattern emerges where governments and central banks build various types of alternative payment rails instead of relying on Visa and Mastercard.
Swiss Fintech Week and Point Zero Forum 2026 Recap
This year, PaySpace Magazine Global team had a chance to visit Point Zero Forum, which ran alongside Swiss Fintech Week 2026, held in Zurich from June 19 to June 25. The two parallel events covered AI adoption in banking, agentic commerce, and the infrastructure for programmable money. As those topics are among the most-discussed within […]
UNCHAIN Festival 2026 Recap: Key Takeaways from Oradea Fortress
The UNCHAIN Festival presented its fifth edition on 17 June 2026 inside the medieval walls of Oradea Fortress. This year, the fintech event drew the attention of more than 1,000 banking, payments, and insurance leaders from across Central and Eastern Europe, who gathered in Romania for the two networking days curated by organisers as a […]
Oradea Hosts High-Level Summit: Prominent leaders from across Central and Eastern Europe will take the stage in Romania
Marek Belka, former Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Poland, to keynote address at UNCHAIN Festival in Oradea
5th Fintech Week & Expo 2026 Heads to Frankfurt with Focus on AI, Innovation & Real-Time Payments
Frankfurt, Germany – October 7-8, 2026 – The highly anticipated 5th Fintech Week & Expo 2026 is set to take place in Frankfurt, bringing together global leaders, innovators, and decision-makers from across the financial technology ecosystem. Organized by The People Events, this premier gathering will revolve around the theme: “Shaping Next-Gen Finance: AI, Real-Time Payments […]
India e₹ Offline CBDC Expansion April 2026: What It Means for UPI, Wallets, and Users
India is handling its CBDC project cautiously but in a curious, exploratory way, seeking to find the best fit scenarios for the e₹ (e-rupee) in already thriving digital financial ecosystem. Will the blockchain-based currency substitute popular payment methods like digital wallets for fiat? Let’s analyze it thoroughly.
Money20/20 Asia Unveils the Intersection Stage: The Epicenter Where TradFi and DeFi Converge
Industry Leaders, Regulators, and Innovators to Convene in Bangkok at the Intersection Where Digital Assets and Traditional Banking Enter New Era of Collaboration
The New Geography of Money: How Cross-Border Payments Are Being Reinvented
For most of financial history, sending money across borders has felt like mailing a letter through a postal system designed in the 1950s — slow, expensive, and surprisingly opaque. You hand your money to a bank, it disappears into a chain of intermediaries, and somewhere between two and five days later it reappears in another […]
Digital Uzbekistan International PLUS-Forum 2026
The Digital Uzbekistan International PLUS-Forum 2026 will take place on May 19–20 in Tashkent, bringing together leading voices from across Central Asia and beyond to explore the future of digital transformation. As the region’s largest platform dedicated to innovation, the forum focuses on advancing digital public services, fintech, payment infrastructure, and the broader digital economy. […]
Crypto Policy Crossroads: CBDC Ban Advances in U.S. as Stablecoin Yield Debate Divides Regulators and Industry
The United States is entering a new phase of cryptocurrency regulation, with lawmakers signaling strong resistance to central bank digital currencies (CBDC) while continuing to shape rules for private digital crypto assets such as stablecoins.
Digital Rupee vs Digital Euro: Which CBDC Is More Business-Friendly?
As central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) move from theory to real-world testing, governments and financial institutions are increasingly evaluating how these digital sovereign currencies will reshape payments, commerce, and financial infrastructure. Two of the most closely watched initiatives today are India’s Digital Rupee (e₹) and the Digital Euro, projects led by the Reserve Bank of […]
India’s Digital Rupee (E₹) and E-Commerce Giants: Facts and Myths Around Retail CBDC Launch
Many industry analysts expected that India’s digital rupee would launch on Amazon and Flipkart by now. However, the central bank’s blockchain currency project is still far from that. Here is the factual record of what the RBI’s CBDC pilot has achieved, who has joined it, and why no full retail launch has happened yet.
Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) News
Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) has recently been a hot topic in the financial world. As a result, many central banks worldwide are exploring the possibility of introducing their digital currencies, which their respective governments would back.
China has been leading the way in developing a CBDC, with their digital currency electronic payment (DCEP) already in the testing phase. Other countries are following suit, with the European Central Bank announcing that they will begin a two-year investigation into the potential for a digital euro. The Bank of Japan is also conducting research into a CBDC.
Proponents of CBDCs argue that they could increase financial inclusion, reduce the costs of transactions, and improve payment systems. However, there are concerns about privacy and the potential for CBDCs to be used for illicit activities.
Overall, the development of CBDCs is an exciting and rapidly-evolving area in the financial world, with many potential benefits and challenges to consider.
