The world's first CBDC, Tunisia's counterattack

On November 7, according to the Russian National News Agency Tass news agency, the Tunisian central bank has launched the digital version of the national currency Dinar (Dinar) "E-Dinar", becoming the first country in the world to issue the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) .

No one would have thought that the world’s first CBDC laurel was actually taken by a small country in South Africa that was unknown…

Tunisian "raid"

 

According to reports, the "E-dinar" was launched in a test form at a financial event in Tunisia. On the line, the Central Bank of Tunisia Governor Marouane El Abassi and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) representatives presented a digital dinar. Transfer operation.

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In addition, the "E-dinar" was jointly issued by the Tunisian central bank and the Russian ICO platform Universa. The reporters found that from the announcement of cooperation with Universa, to the announcement of the digital currency "E-dinar", Tunisia only used It took less than a year.

At the end of 2018, Tunisia announced that ATI, an Internet agency managed by the Ministry of Communications, has signed a 10-year strategic partnership with the blockchain platform Universa to provide hosting services for the platform and to promote its further development. The agreement establishes a set of goals, in which ATI will develop value-added services for its digital block and digitization of paperwork in the area of ​​blockchain.

On April 8 this year, it was reported that the Central Bank of Tunisia was exploring the use of blockchain technology for the national currency Kuwaiti dinar. The Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT) and its new president, Marouane El Abassi, are working with the founder and CEO of DigitUS Tech, Walid Driss. The Tunisian central bank set up a working group to study blockchains, digital payments and cryptocurrencies, and was supervised by Abassi and Driss as founding members.

After that, for a long time, there was no news of Tunisia. To this day, Tunisia has “suddenly” become the first country to announce the conversion of part of the country’s currency into electronic money.

Electronic money "E-dinar"

 

It is understood that the CBDC will be distributed to consumers online and through the 2000 kiosks to be established in Tunisia. Consumers can add money to their digital wallet through a browser application or a future mobile app. Transfers between individuals and businesses are done by scanning the QR code. In the next few months, the Tunisian people will be able to use E-Dinar in thousands of shops, cafes and restaurants.

It is worth mentioning that the “E-dinar” launched by Tunisia is different from the Venezuelan oil coin and the Marshall Islands dollar-dominated SOV. Since the launch of the world’s first CBDC, its “E-dinar” not only has its own country. Banknotes are endorsed, and their nature also belongs to the current electronic currency in the major central bank competitions.

As we all know, for the moment, the cryptocurrency led by bitcoin is still semi-legitimate. This is because the “manufacturing” of these money is not done by central banks (such as the physical currency), but by individuals. It is not currently possible to count on the government to support the issuance of this currency.

Previously, Russian Central Bank Governor Nabiulina said, "We support the development of financial technology. But whether it is digital or not, we do not support private funds. If they replace public funds, they will undermine monetary policy and financial stability, We are against it."

In this regard, Universa founder and CEO Alexander Borodic clarified the difference between "E-dinar" and cryptocurrency.

It claims that the difference between a standard currency with cash and virtual forms (if money is on a bank card) and electronic money (including cryptocurrency) is the transparency of the transaction. In the "E-dinar", every transaction is traceable. The effectiveness of blockchain technology has not been questioned in money market participants and regulators.

Borrodic also said that all funds must be managed by a national center nationwide. Therefore, the work of publishing E- dinar in Tunisia was completed ahead of schedule. The money will be tracked and protected, and, unlike cryptocurrencies, they are government-owned and have actual banknotes.

In addition, electronic banknotes cannot be forged—each electronic banknote has a password protection, just like a banknote has a digital watermark. Universa CEO Borodic said that the cost of producing such notes is 100 times cheaper than the ink, paper and electricity that the printer wastes.

Competition between central banks

 

There is no doubt that choosing to launch E-Dinar at this point in time, Tunisia is not simply a whim.

It is understood that Tunisia ranks 78th and has no leading position on the African continent. And Universa founder and CEO Borodic believes that the country's primary task in establishing such a system is to improve trade relations and improve the domestic economy.

According to Borrodic, e-money will dramatically change the way private banks operate. Physically, all money will remain in the central bank, and banks will become service providers, providing services and quality of competition. Moreover, as banks no longer perform deposit functions, they may no longer pose a threat to customers even if they go bankrupt.

In addition to making domestic transactions more convenient, Tunisia has an ambitious goal: to bring Dinar to the international arena and hope to eliminate the need for dollars in cross-border payments.

Tunisia stated that it hopes to break away from the widely used SWIFT payment system, which can close the payment channels of any country at any time. With E-Dinar, the Tunisian central bank can always control.

In fact, the pre-emptive strategy adopted by Tunisia under the beautiful conditions is behind an arms race between central banks.

It is understood that not only Tunisia, but also other Maghreb countries such as Morocco, Algeria and Mauritania participated in the e-money conference held in the Tunisian capital. So far, these countries have been observing the testing of electronic money. In the future, these countries can join the project, unite under one system, and pay international electronic payments at an agreed exchange rate.

In Universa's view, Tunisia was the first country to occupy a commanding height, including Southeast Asia (Malaysia and the Philippines), Latin America (Argentina and Brazil) and China. It believes that Russian companies are unlikely to sign contracts with Beijing – China prefers to build its own platform through replication technology. But he hopes to cooperate with Latin American countries and the Maghreb countries.

In addition to the above countries, there are also many countries that have announced the upcoming CBDC news.

In July this year, the Deputy Governor of the Bank of Thailand publicly stated that the central bank digital currency research project in cooperation with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority is entering the third phase.

Shortly afterwards, Mu Changchun, deputy director of the Central Bank's Payment and Settlement Department, elaborated on the development plan of the central bank's digital currency R&D. He said that “the central bank's digital currency development goals are clear, and now it can be said that it is ready to go.”

On October 17, Denis Beau, deputy governor of the Bank of France, called for a global regulatory framework for cryptographic assets and hoped the central bank would test its central bank digital currency (CBDC).

And a week ago, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued instructions that the government should complete testing of the National Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) by 2020. According to the 2020 annual presidential plan, the Turkish central bank plans to issue a national digital lira based on blockchain.

It can be seen that for the introduction of CBDC, central banks have been secretly competing. Some people even said that this "raid" in Tunisia may become the outpost of the central banks to launch CBDC. The industry insider said, "As the Dutch International Group report said, the central bank's digital currency may soon enter the wholesale market."

Original: Sharing Finance Neo

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