One of the most meaningful aspects of running the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Tracker at the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) has been listening to public feedback. Building a tool is one thing; building one that people find valuable is another.
Through social media and events like the Oslo Freedom Forum, I’ve learned that professors use the CBDC Tracker to help their students understand what is happening in the world. Government officials have discovered what their own central banks were doing through the CBDC Tracker. And it has been a way for people to make sense of the risks of CBDCs.
I’ve also learned where the CBDC Tracker can be improved. Today, those improvements are here.
Keeping Count
Time and again, people have said they want a better sense of how many jurisdictions are pursuing CBDCs. Therefore, the legend next to the globe now includes counts for each designation, making it easier to see where the world is heading.
The counts should be referenced carefully. CBDC development is not limited to countries. There are also currency unions, territories, and special autonomous regions to consider. That’s why you will often see me referring to “jurisdictions.” For example, the CBDC Tracker currently features data on 150 jurisdictions, spanning from Albania to Zimbabwe.
Tracking Tyranny
Another thing people have wanted is a better sense of what these jurisdictions are like. This year, HRF launched the Tyranny Tracker, making integration with the CBDC Tracker a natural next step. When you look at the data snapshots for each jurisdiction, you will immediately see whether a jurisdiction is democratic, hybrid authoritarian, or fully authoritarian.
And if you look at the two trackers side by side, you’ll quickly notice that authoritarians are at the forefront of CBDC adoption worldwide. Recent history shows that authoritarians are increasingly looking to the financial system as a means to target advocates, activists, pro-democracy organizations, journalists, and other opponents. Unfortunately, it seems they recognize that CBDCs are a new tool at their disposal.
New Terminology
The CBDC Tracker is radically different from other resources, but one choice has often been a source of confusion for the general public: pilot designations. Today, we are addressing that. The problem is that many jurisdictions describe their CBDC as a “pilot,” yet they have thousands, or even tens of thousands, of users. If real people are making real transactions in their real lives, then the CBDC Tracker labels these jurisdictions as being in the “launched” phase. We don’t go by government claims; we go by real experience.
To help clarify the designations, we have renamed “pilots” as “experiments” in the CBDC Tracker. This new designation better reflects that a proper pilot is defined as a limited and closed test within an experimental environment.
Updates Going Forward
Finally, to make it easier to stay up to date, the CBDC Tracker now has a blog. Expect updates, explainers, interviews, and much more. Posts will roll out slowly, since updates to the map will always take priority, but the blog will help elevate the stories that are shaping the world.
If you have questions or concerns that you’d like us to address on the blog, don’t hesitate to reach out.
Final Thoughts
The CBDC Tracker has everything you need to get up to speed on CBDCs. And now, we’ve made it more accessible than ever to track the governments that are trying to track you. However, please let us know if you see room for improvement. The only way we stop the rise of CBDCs is if we do it together.
