Qatar central bank is exploring the possibility of a Central Bank Digital Currency
Digital assets are seeing unprecedented growth across the world. Not one to be left behind, Qatar is also getting ready to join the digital assets’ revolution. The Central Bank of Qatar is attempting to enter the world of digital assets in order to digitise every transaction that occurs in the nation. An official with the Qatar Central Bank (QCB) said that the bank was now researching digital bank licencing and digital currencies. The study will help the QCB obtain a better knowledge of what its area of focus should be, according to Alanood Abdullah Al Muftah, the head of the bank’s fintech division.
QCB will also assess if Qatar may launch a central bank digital currency (CBDC). A report in the English-language daily, The Peninsula, quoted Al Muftah as saying that the study will look into the various facets and sectors of fintech, and also examine whether a CBDC is possible for Qatar.
She added that in the next few months, the path will become clearer. Right now, the bank is researching the various elements and verticals of fintech and attempting to figure out where they want to go. Over the next few months, there will be a better grasp of QCB’s future focus.
She further stated that they see the market heading in the direction of having a digital currency, but added that whether or not they will have a digital currency was still being researched.
Dukhan Bank, a private Qatari bank, was looking into the possibilities of establishing a digital bank in the country. The same report quoted Narayanan Srinivasan, the Chief Operations and Digital Officer at Dukhan Bank, who said that his institution was considering establishing a digital bank in Qatar, but added that they were “still at the thinking stage”.
While private cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are hugely popular, government-backed CBDCs, which are often seen as an antithesis to such cryptocurrencies, have been fast growing in popularity.
A CBDC is a country’s fiat currency in digital form and is managed by the country’s central bank. As of March 2022, 87 countries were considering issuing a CDBC.
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