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The Digital Dollar Project (DDP) announced the launch of its Technical Sandbox Program to jumpstart further exploration of technical implementations of a U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC). The program is slated to begin in early October with the inaugural cohort focused on cross-border payments.
The program will serve as a collaborative space for the DDP participants and financial service providers, offering a neutral environment for the evaluation of technological, business, and policy approaches to CBDCs. Program participants will examine real-world technology, explore potential implications to business strategies and operations, and experiment to uncover possible use-case specific solutions.
“The launch of our Technical Sandbox Program marks the next step in our effort to convene the private and public sector in exploration of a central bank digital currency in the U.S.,” said Jennifer Lassiter, executive director of The Digital Dollar Project. “We understand how important it is to include a diverse set of views and expertise as we look to answer key questions about how the technology could work, the problems we hope to solve, and the ultimate business and individual outcomes we want to achieve. The marriage of these sectors in our collaboration is essential and will lay the foundation for robust pilots that improve the outcomes and usability of CBDCs.”
Each cohort of the DDP Technical Sandbox Program will consist of two phases: an education phase and a pilot phase. Through the education phase of the Technical Sandbox Program, the DDP partners and participants will develop a business and functional understanding of the technology and evaluate the differences in possible design choices. During the pilot phase, the DDP partners and participants will identify and test specific CBDC use-case hypotheses with the aim of gathering data on business-level impacts. The results gathered will be broadly shared and used to inform both private and public sector stakeholders on how advancing technical solutions can unlock business value in a transformative way.
“The Digital Dollar Project is excited to bring a broad array of industries and technical experts together to define desired outcomes and explore a wide range of technical design choices in relation to a U.S. CBDC,” said Lassiter. “The results of which will focus on answering critical questions around the impact of a potential U.S. digital dollar. Our Technical Sandbox Program offers the perfect environment to test CBDC hypotheses in a neutral setting with real-world problems for consideration.”
The DDP is committed to providing the federal government, policymakers, and private sector organizations with a stronger, clearer picture of what implementing a CBDC in the U.S. would look like, and to answering important questions of what a roll-out might entail across retail, wholesale, and international use cases. For more information on The Digital Dollar Project, please visit https://digitaldollarproject.org/.
About The Digital Dollar Project (DDP)
A nonprofit organization, The Digital Dollar Project was created to encourage research and public discussion on the potential advantages and challenges of a U.S. CBDC — or a “digital dollar.” The DDP will identify options for a CBDC solution to help enhance monetary policy effectiveness and financial stability; provide needed scalability, security and privacy in retail, wholesale and international payments; and integrate with existing financial infrastructures, including U.S. Federal Reserve-related projects. Visit digitaldollarproject.org.
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