BARCELONA, SPAIN - MARCH 01: A view of the MasterCard company logo on their stand during the Mobile World Congress on March 1, 2017 in Barcelona, Spain.
(Photo by Joan Cros Garcia/Corbis via Getty Images)SINGAPORE — There isn't enough justification for the widespread use of central bank digital currencies right now, which makes broad adoption of such assets "difficult," Ashok Venkateswaran, Mastercard 's blockchain and digital assets lead for Asia-Pacific, told CNBC.
A retail CBDC, which is the digital form of fiat currency issued by a central bank, caters to individuals and businesses, facilitating everyday transactions.
This is different from a wholesale CBDC which is used exclusively by central banks, commercial banks and other financial institutions to settle large-value interbank transactions.
But a lot of the central banks nowadays have gotten very innovative because they are working very closely with private companies like ours, to create that ecosystem," said the Asia-Pacific lead.
Persons:
Joan Cros Garcia, Corbis, Ashok Venkateswaran, Venkateswaran, Kong's
Organizations:
MasterCard, Mobile, Congress, Getty Images, Mastercard, CNBC, Singapore FinTech, Monetary Fund, Atlantic Council, Hong
Locations:
BARCELONA, SPAIN, Barcelona, Spain, SINGAPORE, Asia, Pacific, Singapore, U.S, Hong Kong