Lynn Johannson, Advisor, Sustainability and ESG
January 4th, 2024
Forbes | Steven Ehrlich | Jan 27 2020
There are at least 18 central banks developing a form of sovereign digital currency, according to a recent survey from crypto news outlet The Block. Some such as China see the efforts as a way to reduce fraud, increase financial transparency, and support flagging economic growth. Others like Iran and Venezuela are looking for ways to evade global sanctions. Finally, tinkerers such as the European Central Bank are making somewhat symbolic efforts as a hedge against Libra, to placate impatient innovators, and use them as an opportunity to learn.
For this latter group, it would be great if something beneficial comes out of this experimentation, but there is no real sense of urgency.
The same cannot be said about Japan, where senior leaders took the extraordinary step of not only reversing recent guidance from the Japanese Central Bank saying that they weren’t pursuing a form of digital currency, but admitted that a primary reason for doing so was concern about what may happen if China’s far more advanced efforts succeed.
Consider these recent statements.
This week Norihiro Nakayama, Japanese Parliamentary Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, told Reuters, “China is moving toward issuing digital yuan, so we’d like to propose measures to counter such attempts.” Not to be outdone, earlier this month former Prime Minister and Current Finance Minister Taro Aso said that it would be a “very serious problem” if digital yuan becomes a popular means for international settlement.
See:
There are geopolitical and economic reasons why China’s attempts to corner the market on CBDCs are seen as an existential threat in Japan. First, for as technologically advanced as Japan’s economy has become, it is highly reliant on global supply chains and vulnerable to trade tensions, such as the recent hostilities between the U.S. and China. Additionally, it has extremely limited fossil fuel deposits and must import most of these precious resources from precarious regions in their own right. As an example, 80% of its oil comes from the Middle East.
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
Support NCFA by Following us on Twitter!Follow @NCFACanada ![]() |
January 4th, 2024
January 25th, 2023
June 1st, 2021
September 9th, 2020
July 17th, 2020
August 22nd, 2019
September 26th, 2018
July 9th, 2018
March 19th, 2018
January 3rd, 2018
September 25th, 2017
July 31st, 2017
June 20th, 2017
May 10th, 2017
May 9th, 2017
December 14th, 2016
NCFA Canada
Craig Asano
CEO and Executive Director
casano@ncfacanada.org
ncfacanada.org
Leave a Reply