132. Central bank digital currencies are so hot right now

Simon Taylor is back this week to talk all things blockchain, Bitcoin and crypto. This week, with a special focus on central bank digital currencies, Simon was joined in the studio by Eric Van der Kleij, CEO of Frontier Network and Andrew Smith, CTO at RTGS.

This week we kicked things off with a lively discussion about central bank digital currencies and the future of monetary policy if they go ahead. Should central banks issue digital currencies? China has already set the wheels in motion with the proposal of its digital yuan and it looks like other countries want to follow suit with their own. A lot can happen in a few weeks and in this episode, we continue to dig into the latest blockchain and crypto news including:

• Central banks are pursuing 'extensive work' on digital currencies, BIS researchers say (02:05)
• Bank of England to assess the potential for digital central bank currencies
• Japan’s central bank ‘must be prepared’ to issue digital currency, says deputy governor
• The National Banks of Cambodia to launch a digital payments network this quarter
• When will we see the digital dollar? ‘Crypto Dad’ says soon
• Hyperledger Fabric, the open-source distributed ledger, reaches release 2.0 (30:16)
• 3 more execs leave Swiss stock exchange’s $100M blockchain project (35:46)
• Ripple CEO hints at IPO says more crypto firms will go public in 2020 (31:38)

The Tweet of the Week comes from @EricGraca about Bitpanda and Brexit. (49:32) Why not send us your best tweets? See if you can get a shout out on the show!

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Special Guests: Andrew Smith and Eric Van der Kleij.

Links:

• Central banks are pursuing 'extensive work' on digital currencies, BIS researchers say
• Bank of England to assess the potential for digital central bank currencies
• Japan’s central bank ‘must be prepared’ to issue digital currency, says deputy governor
• The National Banks of Cambodia Will Launch a Digitial Payments Network this Quarter
• When Will We See the Digital Dollar? ‘Crypto Dad’ Says Soon
• Hyperledger Fabric, the open-source distributed ledger, reaches release 2.0
• 3 More Execs Leave Swiss Stock Exchange’s $100M Blockchain Project
• Ripple CEO hints at IPO says more crypto firms will go public in 2020
• Tweet of the Week