Retail Central Bank Digital Currency: Motivations, Opportunities, and Open Questions

​Retail Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) promise to reshape the future of money, yet their development faces significant institutional, technical, and political challenges. This talk explores the motivations behind CBDCs, the tensions between public and private digital money, and key open questions around ownership, design, and financial inclusion. We critically examine current proposals and discuss what it would take for individuals and businesses to hold and use money outside traditional banking systems in the digital age.