The Manifesto
1. A retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) should have a strong value proposition (SVP) and tangible benefits for citizens. The decision process should start with identifying the problem(s) to be solved with CBDC and evaluating all alternative solutions. The CBDC option should be chosen only if it has a compelling value proposition relative to the best alternatives. If the CBDC option is chosen, SVPs to other digital forms of money are essential. To drive adoption, it is not sufficient to offer a new means of payment that has the same features as today’s means of payment.
Potential SVPs of CBDCs for users are high privacy guarantees, both online and offline capabilities with no need for later third-party approval or validation, low risk as a digital form of default-resistant central bank money, and CBDC value units as part of an independent, sovereign, and sanction-resistant payment infrastructure to ensure monetary sovereignty in uncertain times. For merchants, the SVPs are lower fees than for currently-existing means of payments and instant settlement. For companies/industry features for programmable payments and the use of smart contracts are SVPs.
2. A CBDC should provide the highest degree of privacy. In this context, a CBDC should supply technically guaranteed privacy by design and by default, without the need to trust the central bank to preserve privacy. The CBDC can be utilized, ideally, by anonymous payments for small- and medium-sized transactions.
3. A CBDC should not be designed in a way to do harm to society, e.g., via very negative interest rates, or via so-called programmable money that restricts the use of money for specific types of expenditures (e.g., special food and beverages, computer games etc.) or that expires after a certain amount of time. A CBDC should be based on principles of self-determination and freedom.
4. The development of a CBDC should follow a collaborative approach involving all stakeholders (central banks, financial institutions, associations, end-users, companies, researchers, etc.) and have a well-defined governance system. The design and development processes should be transparent, public, and open. Ideally, a CBDC should be open-source and use open-source technology to increase transparency.
5. The CBDC should exhibit technical, regulatory and usage interoperability, both locally and globally.
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