Many central banks around the world are considering or already experimenting withthe issuance of retail central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), digital versions of their atcurrencies. The Bahamas, the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union, and Nigeria have alreadyintroduced CBDCs. CBDC experiments and pilots are underway in many other economiesincluding China, India, Japan, and Sweden.1 This concept has gained traction as the useof physical cash (currency banknotes and coins) is declining around the world with digitalpayment technologies gaining prevalence. There are a few major economies such as Japan,Switzerland, and the United States, where cash remains an important (although increasinglyless important) payment mechanism for low-value retail transactions. But in most otheradvanced and emerging market economies, the proliferation of innovative low-cost retail payment systems is rapidly displacing cash.