CBDC Manifesto: Design Recommendations for a retail CBDC

On October 12th, the Digital Euro Association (DEA) and the CBDC Think Tank (CBDC TT) announced the CBDC Manifesto at the CBDC Summit 2022 in Washington D.C. The document was developed by the DEA, the CBDC TT, and world-leading CBDC experts.

Given the critical role of CBDC in the payments space and its potential impacts on other parts of the economy, the CBDC Manifesto proposes 5 major CBDC design recommendations, which can be used as a roadmap by central banks to devise an optimal CBDC development plan. Besides the one-page recommendation, there is supporting documentation that explains each guidance in detail.

The 5 CBDC design recommendations are:

1. A CBDC should have a strong value proposition (SVP) and tangible benefits for citizens. To drive adoption, it is not sufficient to offer a new means of payment that has the same features as today’s means of payment.

2. A CBDC should provide the highest degree of privacy. In this context, a CBDC should supply technically guaranteed privacy by design and by default, without the need to trust the central bank to preserve privacy. The CBDC can be utilized, ideally, by anonymous payments for small- and medium-sized transactions.

3. A CBDC should not be designed in a way to do harm to society, e.g., via very negative interest rates, or via so-called programmable money that restricts the use of money for specific types of expenditures (e.g., special food and beverages, computer games, etc.) or that expires after a certain amount of time. A CBDC should be based on principles of self-determination and freedom. 

4. The development of a CBDC should follow a collaborative approach involving all stakeholders (central banks, financial institutions, associations, end-users, companies, researchers, etc.) and have a well-defined governance system. The design and development processes should be transparent, public, and open. Ideally, a CBDC should be open-source and use open-source technology to increase transparency.

5. The CBDC should exhibit technical, regulatory and usage interoperability, both locally and globally.

The CBDC Manifesto is supported by individuals and organizations across the globe, who are in favor of a citizen-centric solution. Please sign the list here if you also want to support this initiative.

Find here the CBDC Manifesto.

Supporters

The people who support this initiative are listed below. If you also want to support this initiative and appear on the following list, please click here. Even after the publication date of this article, it is possible to support this initiative and to be included in the list of supporters below, which is updated regularly:

• Dr. Aart Korteweg
• Abel Borghuis
• Achim Braunsteffer
• Dr. Achim E. H. Wolf, Innovation A
• Ad Verdiesen
• Adam Retkes, CBDC Think Tank Budapest
• Adeolu Fadele, Cryptography Development Initiative in Nigeria
• Dr. Adriana Carotenuto
• Ainur Kenzhayeva, PFTDC of the National Bank of Kazakhstan
• Ajibola Soyoye
• Akira Sasaki
• Akshay Kurhekar
• Alex Smith
• Alexander Gloy, Lighthouse Investment Management
• Alexander Korte, MVJ Vermögensverwaltung GMBH
• Dr. Alexander Rad
• Prof. Dr. Alfredo Muñoz
• Alyssa Ong
• Amnon Samid, BitMint
• Andre Costa, Free Enterprise Advisors
• André Kießling
• Andreas Ebner, GFT Technologies SE
• Dr. Andreas Gmuender, Scenic Swisscoast
• Andreas Hartauer
• Dr. Andreas (Andy) Jobst, Roxe Inc.
• Andrew Wright, Thomas Murray
• Animesh Ghosh, KornChain
• Anita Dickson
• Anitha Ramaswamy
• Anthony Smith
• Antonio Lanotte
• Antony Welfare
• Aparajita Roy, KornChain London
• Arpit Singh
• Ashot Bychkov
• Balaji Natarajan
• Barbara Baldwin, InnoValue
• Barbara Cleve
• Dr. Benedikt Zoller, ZHAW
• Benjamin Schellinger, Branch Business & Information Systems Engineering of the Fraunhofer FIT
• Benjamin Schmid, First Coin GmbH
• Bernardo Stegmaier, Bitpanda
• Bernhard Kaufmann
• Bert Bosman, Step Forward Consultancy
• Binur Zhalenov, PFTDC of the National Bank of Kazakhstan
• Dr. Bradley Shaw, charlestonX
• Brian Becerra Rojas, 21MBulls
• Prof. Carl Pitchford, ESTICE International Management School - Lille
• Carmen Calhoun, CC’s Industries LLC
• Carola Stirler
• Chela Chen
• Chris Bruppacher, Swiss Stablecoin AG
• Chris Douma
• Christian Pfister
• Cizar Bachir Brahim, SWNGLOBAL- MetaMUI
• Clark Parsons, Internet Economy Foundation
• Clemens Behrend
• Conrad Kraft
• Damian Szkudlarek, hoopbit Damian Szkudlarek
• Daniel Alkan, Severn Consultancy
• Daniel Dilworth
• Daniel Holk
• Daniel Stahl, Cryp2D GmbH
• Daniel Zommer
• Dániel Szegő
• Dr. David Tercero-Lucas
• DCA Vlag
• Dea Saka Kurnia Putra, Indonesia Blockchain Forum (IBF) & Belajar Blockchain
• Dercio Frade
• Prof. Dr. Deyan Radev, Sofia University
• Diego Montes Serralde
• Diego Rodríguez, Kyron records
• Dieter Emmer
• Dirk Braun
• Dmitry Ouzkikh
• Dominik Merz
• Edgar Koning
• Ellen Onrust
• Ellen van der Bliek
• Ellis van Baalen
• Else van de Venne
• Eron Mamudi
• Erwin Poeze
• Esosa Orhue, E-Warehouse Consulting
• Ester Korbee
• Esther Das
• Eugenio Reggianini
• Eva Veldhoen
• F. Altenburg, Ons Geld
• Felix Bekemeier
• Fernando L. B. Marques, University of Sao Paulo
• Dr. Filipe Ferreira
• Francesco Mazzetti
• Francis Souza, ACI Worldwide
• Frans Sikking
• Frédéric Tronnier
• Ganesh Shetti, 3si technologies
• Gann-Jiun Lin, Aimichia Technology., CO., LTD.
• Georg Lanzinger
• Dr. Gerald Hessenberger
• Gerrit Van Malkenhorst, Stichting Ons Geld (Our Money Foundation)
• Dr. Gianluca D'Imperio
• Gideon Wiersma
• Gijs Van der Veur
• Gonzalo Davalos, 21MBulls
• Gourav Roy, BCG
• Gurinder Dua
• Hamit Boyraz, Finwise Consulting
• Hamza Mohammed Ali
• HE Leever
• Heidi Leenaarts, United Economy
• Helen Hooijschuur
• Helena de Boer
• Hendrik Tuinstra, Renderklippenweg 7
• Henne van Beveren
• Hill Scholte
• Prof. Dr. Horst Treiblmaier
• Ian Gerstgrasser, DERA
• Ilse van Kleef
• Ina Ngina
• Ineke Luberti
• Dr. Ivan Homoliak, Faculty of Information Technology, Brno University of Technology
• Iván Manso Arenal, Accenture
• Iwan Van Noort
• J.P. Nolan
• Jaap van der Sijp
• Jack Veldman, ARCHEON
• Jafar Mussaid, Nuqud
• Jan Lammerts
• Jan Spörer
• Janet Sinclair
• Jannah Patchay
• Janny Van Doesburg
• Jaskaran Singh
• Dr. Javier Jorge Vázquez, Catholic University of Ávila
• Jeremi Van den Berghe
• Jeroen Gerats, GymForum.nl
• JJ Goossens
• Johan Bogmans
• Johan Pot
• Johan Welling
• Johan Zijlstra
• Johannes Sedlmeir
• John Kiff, CBDC Think Tank
• John van Duursen
• Dr. Jonas Gross
• Dr. Joost Smitskamp
• José Zárate, Stamping.io
• Kamlesh Nagware
• Katarina Mattmuller
• Khang Vu Tien
• Khusboo Gupta, IIT Delhi
• Dr. Kimmo Soramaki, FNA
• Dr. Kombe Kaponda, Bank of Zambia
• Kseniia Massant, Ibef SA
• Laurens van Dijk, Exin bv
• Lea Vries
• Lena Grale
• Lennart Schuldt
• Linda Dudek
• Luca Scheibinger
• Luitpold Deutzer
• Lukas Kress
• Lukasz Jakubczak
• Luki Song, FirstBank
• Mahmoud Jawwad, Nova Blockchain Club
• Makis Malioris
• Marcel Knobloch
• Marcha Vander Bie
• Marek Łyjak
• Marian Mudder, MM -A-W-C
• Marianne Haspels
• Mariano Camere Echevarría, 21MBulls
• Mario Martínez Lorenzo
• Marja Brand
• Marjolein Bolhuis
• Mark Allin
• Mark Jansen
• Mark Janssen
• Dr. Mark Yama Tampuri Jnr
• Marleen Van Steen
• Dr. Martijn van der Linden, The Hague University of Applied Sciences
• Martin Debusmann
• Martin van Lier
• Dr. Maurits Hooiveld
• Mees Zijlstra
• Melvina Markmann
• Dr. Michael Gebert,  European Blockchain Association
• Mickaël Gaborit, Blooo
• Nadine Kanaan
• Dr. Nathalie Launay
• Navin Oswal
• Neo Lin, Qianyuhui International Environmental Investment
• Neslihan Ozkan
• Néstor Campos, PeerPay
• Dr. Nicola Davolio, Hupry
• Niels Leerentveld
• Nirinasoa Rajaona
• Oliver Naegele
• Omar Kerschbamer
• Onno van der Straaten, OnKnows.com
• P. Leijten, Hi-tap
• Pallavi Thakur
• Pascal Kaiser
• Patricia Suárez, ASUFIN
• Patrick van Asbroeck
• Paul Hulsman
• Paul McOlaka
• Paul Oord
• Peter Bouwman
• Dr. Peter Dittus
• Peter Schepens
• Dr. Peter Slivka, Zota Payment Technologies AG
• Phil Haunhorst, Obius
• Philipp Misura
• Prof. Dr. Philipp Sandner, Frankfurt School Blockchain Center
• Pier Mario Lupinu
• Piet Oldenhof, alpino auto enschede
• Piort Naw
• Piotr Tatarczyk
• Prakash Neupane, Exploreby Technology
• Dr. Puck Groningen, van
• Rajib Ghosh, KornChain Limited
• Raphael Sperling, Tax Sparrow
• René Balvers
• René Verwoerd
• Richard Smit, Smit Finance
• Richard Turrin
• Richard Weals, Learn Trade Transform Ltd
• Rick Clephas
• Ridwan Badmus
• Dr. Ritesh Jain, Infynit / Former COO HSBC
• Rob Hendriks
• Robert Colijn
• Robert Svarc
• Roberto Pagliari
• Dr. Roberto Sisto
• Roberto Wächtler
• Rosita Sikking-Reeberg
• Dr. Rudi Moezel, MMC
• Rungrot Tatiyawongwiwat
• Dr. Samuel De Gannes, De Gannes Technolgies Inc.
• Sandro Stoffers
• Sarah Palurovic
• Sascha Braband
• Sathyanarayanan Sridharan
• Selin Sezer
• Prof. Dr. Sergio Luis Náñez Alonso, Dekis Research Group
• Dr. Shayne Heffernan, KXCO
• Sheilla Olga, INATBA
• Simon Soppart
• Sophie Aurelly Ngouakang Tchinda, Tchinsop law firm, Douala-Cameroon
• Srihari Sridharan
• Srikanth Tanniru
• Stavros Goulas
• Stephan Dreyer
• Dr. Stephan Simon
• Steve Wallace
• Sunny Jiang, MaasValley
• Suzan Bosch
• Dr. Talha Ocal
• Tamara Ferreira Schmidt
• Tan Gürpinar, Blockchain Europe
• Tatiana Matersheva-Indlekofer
• Tessel Goede, Nvt
• Thomas Michalski, Infineon Technologies
• Tilemachos Angelitsas, Omnis Engineering Services PC
• Dr. Tim Schulteis
• Timo Boland, Stichtingtechnotrend
• Tom Dapp, KfW Digital Office
• Tomasz Wawron
• Tomaž Fleischman
• Tommy Cooksey
• Ubasinachi Nkume, Clplegal
• Valentin Seehausen, Open Currency Technology
• Valeria Aragonés Díaz
• Dr. Victor Muñoz, BRIGHT NFT
• Vid Hribar, RBI AG
• Vidyashankar Ramalingam
• Vito Domizio
• Wieger Janse
• Winke Goede
• Xavier Arias Seguí
• Xavier Lavayssière, ECAN
• Yan Zhao
• Yvonne van Donk
• Zvinodashe Mupambirei

These are the supporters up until 2023–10–23 10:46 CEST. Do you agree with these recommendations and do you want to support this initiative? Then, please click here.