As per French news agency AFP, Banque de France i.e. the Bank of France will commence testing its own digital currency in 2020. The statement was given by Francois Villeroy de Galhau, governor of the bank on 4th of Dec.
Europe’s sovereignty is threatened by Libra
Villeroy de Galhau further stated that the centralization of the payments is moving towards the big tech giants. And, as these players are from the other parts of the world, the emergence of non-bank players may prove to be a threat to the sovereignty of Europe.
He also said that Bitcoin is a volatile currency with no real value. But despite making international payments more reliable and quick, the new gen of digital assets still faces fiscal and political risks.
Of course, as banking authorities we cannot just stand and allow this change to occur unchecked. We need to be completely dedicated to our dual goals i.e. secure confidence and supporting invention- which is mentioned in the very core of our institution.
In September, Libra, the Facebook project was ostracized by the French and German government. They vowed to block their rollouts.
Calling for innovations
As per Villeroy de Galhau, the Bank of France is planning to launch its own central bank crypto currency (CBDC) as a payment solution somewhat similar to Facebook. The central bank of France will organize a new division to concentrate on executing payment inventions along with a CBDC.
The French bank will commence testing as soon as possible in the coming year.
New talents will be recruited to enhance the expertise level. The Lab, the DIIP will work in collaboration with industry innovators to experiment quickly and release a call for project before the first quarter of the next year ends.
France isn’t alone in it. According to U.Today, the People’s Bank of China is also been working on starting its own virtual currency for the past few years.
It will be interesting to see how banks launch their own digital currency and make it work amongst the common masses.