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Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Meaning

A Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) is a digital form of a country’s sovereign currency issued and regulated by its central bank. Unlike cryptocurrencies, CBDCs are centralized, government-backed, and represent a direct liability of the issuing central bank.

CBDCs are designed to function as legal tender, meaning they can be used for payments, savings, and settlement just like physical cash. Their value is pegged one-to-one with the national fiat currency, such as the U.S.

dollar, euro, or Chinese yuan. Governments explore CBDCs to modernize payment systems, improve financial inclusion, reduce transaction costs, and enhance monetary policy tools.

Some designs allow for programmable features, enabling targeted stimulus, automatic tax collection, or spending restrictions. Despite similarities to cryptocurrencies-such as the use of distributed ledger technology-CBDCs differ fundamentally in philosophy.

They prioritize control, traceability, and regulatory oversight, raising concerns about surveillance, privacy, and centralization. As of today, dozens of countries are piloting or researching CBDCs, making them a major area of intersection between traditional finance and blockchain technology.

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Important Disclaimer:

Finery Markets BVI Limited (“Finery Markets”) provides software, technology infrastructure, and related Information and Communication Technology (ICT) services on a Software-as-a-Service (“SaaS”) basis. Finery Markets acts solely as a software vendor and does not operate a trading platform, does not intermediate, match, execute, clear, or settle transactions, and does not engage in any activities that would require regulatory authorisation under applicable laws.

Finery Markets’ software is non-custodial and is provided exclusively to licensed institutional entities that act as independent operators of their own environments. All counterparties are solely responsible for establishing and maintaining their own bilateral trading and settlement relationships. Finery Markets is not a party to any such arrangements and assumes no responsibility for the conduct, verification, or compliance obligations of any users of the software.

Nothing on this website shall be construed as a financial promotion, investment advice, or an offer to engage in regulated activities. Access to and use of the software is strictly limited to clients who have entered into a software licensing agreement with Finery Markets. Persons located in jurisdictions where such access is restricted should not rely on this website or any of its contents.

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