Bank of Canada seeks new lead for CBDC initiative

The Bank of Canada is looking to hire an economist with an understanding of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), in the latest steps towards developing a policy on CBDCs.

The move represents the latest step from the Canadian central bank towards a centrally issued digital currency, and could signal an increase in efforts to develop a Canadian solution.

According to a job listing posted by the central bank, the candidate’s duties will include monitoring developments on CBDCs, digital payments and financial technologies around the world, as well as researching the technology towards the “potential development of a CBDC.”

“A wave of innovation in financial technology (FinTech) around the world is transforming the landscape of currency, payments systems and financial intermediation. The Bank of Canada is engaged in a large-scale research program to analyze the risks and opportunities of these new developments.”

Among the requirements for applicants is a close working knowledge of major digital currency platforms, alongside an understanding of existing legacy payment systems, including merchant acquirers, point of sale technologies and card networks.

Applicants must also be experienced in working with blockchain data, with the ability to analyze transaction data and consumer surveys.

The move follows on from calls from Timothy Lane, the bank’s deputy governor, urging central banks to speed up progress on developing CBDCs in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lane has previously said efforts in Canada towards developing a digital currency were progressing at “a good pace.”

In developing a CBDC, the Bank of Canada joins with other major central banks around the world in pursuing a workable centrally issued digital currency, as a supplement to fiat and cash payment systems.

Others, including the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan and the Bank of England are among those already known to be working on developing their own central bank digital currencies.

To learn more about central bank digital currencies and some of the design decisions that need to be considered when creating and launching it, read nChain’s CBDC playbook.

See also: CoinGeek Live presentation on Exploring the Opportunity to Digitise the Physical World with the Bitcoin Blockchain.

https://youtu.be/cGcz1LLXMJY?t=27548