Tehran and Moscow are discussing the possible launch of a stablecoin for international settlements, the Russian press revealed. In order to mint the gold-backed currency, however, authorities would need to first regulate crypto assets, a lawmaker noted.

As crypto markets continue to grow and gain mainstream acceptance, it is crucial to consider the potential risks it poses to financial stability.

Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) have the potential to change payment systems, Shyam Nagarajan, an executive partner at IBM Consulting said.

Digital currencies, such as central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and stablecoins, are the natural evolution of money and payments, Bank of America (BAC) said in a research report on Tuesday.

We're cautiously optimistic a carefully designed CBDC could give a new payments tool with best features of cash, digital payments and crypto. Success will require thoughtful design of the CBDC intermediary ecosystem, and supporting options like self-custody and strong privacy.

The Eurogroup, a body comprising the Finance Ministers of the Eurozone countries, said the digital euro could not be programmable money, in a statement on Monday. In other words, there would be no restrictions on the types of goods and services to be purchased or on the time for use of the digital euro.

Andrew Bailey, the Bank of England (BoE) governor, expressed skepticism on the need for a digital pound shortly after finance ministers from eurozone countries backed further work on a digital euro. 

China’s central bank will have to work closely with payment giants WeChat Pay and Alipay to achieve wider adoption for the e-CNY, the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), as it continues struggling to get consumers to use it, experts said.

Fabio Araujo, director of the Central Bank of Brazil and leader of the Digital Brazilian Real project (Brazil’s CBDC version), said that the new payment system will have its own blockchain, whose design is inspired by the Ethereum network.

Thomas Moser, alternate member of the governing board of the Swiss National Bank, said he doesn’t yet see a need yet to issue a central bank digital currency. Central banks around the world are exploring the use of CBDCs, CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal reports.