Qatar exploring digital banks and central bank digital currencies

The Qatar Central Bank (QCB) is reportedly investigating the anticipation of launching a integer currency and issuing integer slope licenses. 

According to the caput of the fintech conception astatine QCB, Alanood Abdullah Al Muftah, the cardinal slope is expected to acceptable a absorption for its aboriginal absorption soon connected a scope of fintech verticals. 

Al Muftah noted that QCB volition besides find whether Qatar tin found a cardinal slope integer currency (CBDC). She explained:

"Each cardinal slope should survey integer banks, considering their increasing value successful the planetary market. We besides spot the absorption of the marketplace moving towards having a integer currency. However, it's inactive being studied whether we're having a integer currency oregon not."

While commenting connected Qatar's regulatory sandbox, Al Muftah said that 3 firms successful the payments assemblage are presently investigating solutions with the cardinal bank. She besides stated that the QCB is considering different firms funny successful utilizing the regulatory sandbox.

A regulatory sandbox is simply a abstraction successful which fintech firms tin trial caller products, services, concern models, and transportation mechanisms successful a real-world mounting portion benefiting from an accelerated authorization process and supervisory monitoring.

Private Qatari slope Dukhan Bank, meanwhile, is examining the anticipation of creating a integer slope successful Qatar, its main operations and integer serviceman Narayanan Srinivasan told The Peninsula. However, Srinivasan warned that his instauration would lone physique a integer slope aft a amended knowing of its economics. As per the report, Dukhan Bank is besides considering blockchain exertion successful the payments sector.

Related: The Philippines to motorboat aviator CBDC implementation

Although backstage virtual currencies similar Bitcoin (BTC) person grown successful popularity and followers, government-backed CBDCs, often regarded arsenic an antithesis to backstage cryptocurrencies, person been accelerating rapidly. According to data from the Atlantic Council, arsenic of June 2019, 87 nations are presently processing their ain integer currency, with lone 14 having completed the aviator phase. Nine countries person already implemented a CBDC. .