The Article 90 Commission of the Iranian Parliament has stated that the Central Bank of Iran's digital Rial CBDC project has no legal basis and should be halted immediately.

Standard Chartered and PwC China have collaborated to produce a white paper on the potential applications of central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the Greater Bay Area of China, which includes Guangdong Province, Hong Kong, and Macao.

Two Lords in England have raised concerns about the Bank of England's exploration of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), warning against its introduction "by stealth". Lord George Bridges and Lord Michael Forsyth of Drumlean expressed concerns about privacy and criminal activity, stating that a CBDC could not be used anonymously without creating a haven for criminal activity. They are pushing for legislation to guarantee that a "Britcoin" could not be introduced without primary legislation and proper parliamentary scrutiny. The Bank of England has been exploring CBDCs for some time and has published papers on the topic, while the US is also engaged in conversations about CBDC implementation.

Australian fintech company Monoova has successfully completed the first cross-border settlement using the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in the Australian CBDC pilot project. The pilot was established last year to explore potential use cases and economic benefits of a CBDC in Australia.

Republican lawmaker Rep. Alex Mooney of West Virginia has introduced the Digital Dollar Pilot Prevention Act to prevent the Federal Reserve from launching a pilot program to test a central bank digital currency (CBDC) without congressional permission. The bill aims to address concerns over increased government surveillance and threats to privacy that could arise from implementing a digital dollar. However, some argue that a CBDC could improve financial inclusion in the US by eliminating transaction fees that currently exclude many Americans from accessing financial services. The fate of the Federal Reserve's potential pilot program remains uncertain as the debate surrounding CBDCs intensifies. Meanwhile, the United States is considering the creation of a CBDC to modernize its financial system and keep up with the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies. A CBDC could offer faster and more secure transactions, and potentially reduce reliance on physical cash.

Japan is making progress in its efforts to adopt digital currency, with the Bank of Japan (BOJ) completing the second phase of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) proof-of-concept (POC) experiment and moving into the pilot phase in April as planned. During the second phase, the BOJ tested various technological applications for setting upper limits on CBDC holdings, with a focus on user experience and stability in the digital financial landscape. The results of the POC were successful, and Japan's pursuit of a digital yen represents a pivotal step in the realm of digital currency, positioning the country at the forefront of the next revolution in financial technology. The BOJ has committed to making its final decision on CBDC issuance by 2026, with a CBDC Forum established to solicit insights from private enterprises.

Yanis Varoufakis, an economist and former Greek Minister of Finance, has written an op-ed for Project Syndicate stating that the current banking regime is rightfully wary of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the US. Varoufakis compares the fears of future CBDCs to the fears of smoking restrictions, with JPMorgan and other Too-big-to-fail (TBFT) banks viewing CBDCs as a government-backed threat against their business. However, Varoufakis believes that a CBDC system could be far more private and resistant to tyranny than the current private banking apparatus, and could bring benefits such as strengthening tax collection, fighting deflation, and enhancing protection against Big Brother.

Chinese healthcare and energy providers have made breakthroughs in accepting digital yuan payments for medical treatment, deposits, medication, and hospitalization fees. The use of the central bank's digital yuan app has been praised for being safer, more convenient, and faster than traditional payment methods. Mental care facilities have also reported an improvement in the medical experience for patients. In addition, the CBDC has been used for inter-government payments, with the Jiangsu Province government settling their recent electricity bill for municipal street lamps using the digital yuan. The China Securities Regulatory Commission has also cleared the CBDC for use in the securities market.

According to Ripple's latest report, finance leaders believe that payments are a crucial gateway to crypto adoption and are interested in using tokenization to drive innovation in various industries. The report also highlights the growing interest in decentralized finance (DeFi) among financial institutions, with 76% expressing interest in institutional DeFi for driving innovation in liquidity, risk management, and identity. Ripple's report predicts that the tokenization market could grow to $16 trillion by 2030, and also discusses topics such as central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and payments. The report surveyed 1,700 leaders from financial institutions and enterprises and emphasizes the top use case for digital assets is for payments.

The central bank of Brazil has announced its partnership with 14 institutions, including private banks like Nubank and Bradesco, and MNCs like Microsoft and VISA, for the pilot testing of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) called Digital Real. The participants will be onboarded onto the Digital Real Pilot platform starting mid-June 2023, where simulated transactions will be conducted to evaluate instant settlements in government bond trading. The central bank aims to assess privacy measures, information exchange among participants, and the integration of programmability functions with interoperability. The Digital Real will be developed as a payment instrument running on Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and will facilitate retail financial services, allowing tokenized deposits to be settled within Brazil's financial and payment systems institutions.