12/09/2025
BIS Survey: CBDC and Crypto Work Advancing in Tandem
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has published results from its 2024 global survey, covering 93 central banks representing 94% of global GDP. The findings highlight the rapid evolution of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), stablecoins, and tokenisation.
Key insights:
- 91% of central banks are engaged in CBDC work, with wholesale CBDCs generally more advanced than retail.
- Motivations differ: retail CBDCs are often driven by financial inclusion and domestic payment efficiency, while wholesale CBDCs focus on cross-border settlement and tokenised asset integration.
- Stablecoins remain limited for everyday payments in most jurisdictions, but see wider use for remittances and cross-border flows in emerging markets.
- Regulation is catching up: by end-2024, two-thirds of jurisdictions had enacted or were developing bespoke frameworks for crypto and stablecoins.
- Asset tokenisation is moving mainstream, nearly half of surveyed jurisdictions are experimenting, with live issuance most common in bond markets.
The results suggest that CBDC exploration, stablecoin regulation, and tokenisation are no longer isolated tracks, they are converging as central banks, regulators, and private markets reshape the future of money and settlement systems.
Source: https://www.bis.org/publ/bppdf/bispap159.pdf
