By Tom Phillips

The total annual value of transactions made using central bank digital currencies (CBDC) will exceed US$213bn by 2030, up from US$100m in 2023, according to a Juniper Research forecast.

The forecast also predicts that the percentage of the total transaction value accounted for by domestic CBDC payments will fall from “almost 100 per cent during the current pilot stages” in 2023 to 92 per cent by 2030 as cross-border CBDC payment systems develop.

“Adoption will be driven by governments leveraging CBDCs to boost financial inclusion and increase their control over how digital payments are made,” the researchers say.

“CBDCs will improve access to digital payments, particularly in emerging economies, where mobile penetration is significantly higher than banking penetration.

“Since CBDCs are issued by central banks, they will be closely targeted to domestic payment challenges initially, with cross-border payments coming later, as systems become established and links are made between CBDCs used by individual countries.”