Canada launches CBDC consultation

The Bank of Canada launched an online public consultation on Canada’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) on May 8, according to the bank’s official website.

The consultation services are online and will remain open until June 19, 2023, as the announcement post noted.

Canadian digital dollar

The consultation platform will allow participants to speak their minds regarding the characteristics of the Canadian digital dollar.

Bank of Canada also noted that the country doesn’t need a digital dollar at the time being. The consultation was launched to be prepared for the future when a CBDC might be required.

Senior Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada, Carolyn Rogers, emphasized the purpose of the consultation and stated:

“As Canada’s central bank, we want to make sure everyone can always take part in our country’s economy. That means being ready for whatever the future holds,

“We want to hear from Canadians about what they value most in the design of a digital dollar. This will help us make design choices and ensure that it is secure, reliable and meets the needs of Canadians,”

The bank is primarily interested in learning about how Canadians would use the digital dollar, what security features are crucial, and what concerns citizens with regard to CBDC’s accessibility and privacy.

The announcement also noted that cash usage would remain the same even if the Canadian digital dollar is rolled out one day.

Canada on crypto

Canada has been collecting information on all branches related to crypto in recent years. The Bank of Canada conducted thorough research on crypto awareness, ownership, and quantum computing simulation last year and published its results in April 2022. The country also launched consultations on stablecoins, crypto in general, and CBDCs on November 2022 as well.

Despite all the collected data, Canada offers very little in terms of crypto regulations. In September 2022, Pierre Poilievre,  a Bitcoin (BTC) maximalist political, won the leadership of Canada’s Conservative Party. Even though this demonstrated the public stance against crypto, the country halted crypto adoption one month later, let alone expanding it.

In December 2022, Canada’s Securities and Administrators prevented crypto exchanges in the country from offering margin or leveraged trading services to Canadian users. In February 2023, Canada took regulations one step further and mandated crypto exchanges to a new set of rules, calling them to comply within 30 days.