As major jurisdictions across the globe continue exploring the feasibility and effectiveness of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), 2025 has seen a notable shift in emphasis from relatively early retail-payment pilots toward broader infrastructure, cross-border initiatives as well as strategic policy objectives. For the United Kingdom, these ongoing developments offer key insights into how international CBDC thinking is now evolving. UK Finance also noted that this can provide insight in the context of the Digital Pound; however, as ever, “the context of each project is critical.”
Global interest in CBDCs remains “on the agenda for policy makers around the world.” According to the Atlantic Council tracker, there are “currently more than 70 countries are now in either a development or pilot phase, with over 130 jurisdictions formally examining some form of digital currency.”
This year, UK Finance noted that several nations appeared to have made substantial progress on their ongoing work in this area:
- India – The Reserve Bank of India reported that circulation of the digital rupee (e₹) reached Rs 1,016 crore by March 2025, up significantly from a year earlier. The RBI also announced plans to explore cross-border CBDC pilots, which signalled an interest in international interoperability.
- Australia – The Reserve Bank of Australia launched Phase 2 of Project Acacia, focusing on wholesale CBDC use cases and tokenised bank deposits in collaboration with major financial institutions. A report is due out in April.
- Singapore – The Monetary Authority of Singapore expanded its trials involving wholesale CBDC for interbank transfers, tokenised bills, and regulatory frameworks for stablecoins. MAS noted that work is being carried out alongside international partners, including the Bank of England.
These pertinent examples primarily show a growing focus on infrastructure, tokenization and settlement – rather than simply on retail wallets or consumer payments.
A number of studies, e.g. Nottingham Trent University’s latest publication Political motives behind global adoption of Central Bank Digital Currency revealed in new study, released this year, indicates “that CBDC projects continue to be shaped by wider policy objectives.”
One academic review found that political and strategic considerations – including “governance, transparency and control over payment rails – influence how and why countries pursue CBDCs.”
In Europe, policymakers have framed the digital euro partly “as a measure to reinforce monetary and payment-system sovereignty in the face of increasing reliance on non-European digital platforms.”
As noted in a blog post, they have seen differences of opinion emerge between the ECB, Commission and Parliament over the extent “to which a CBDC or European private sector initiatives are the right way to address these risks.”
Although the particular objectives may differ across different jurisdictions, certain common themes are identified in the UK Finance update as follows:
- Promoting resilience in domestic payments networks
- Reducing dependency on global private payment intermediaries
- Supporting future tokenised financial-market infrastructures
- Improving cross-border settlement efficiency
The UK is currently in the design phase of Digital Pound work, “with a detailed blueprint expected in 2026.”
Against this, the global developments of 2025 offer several points of comparison:
- Pace and scope – Some jurisdictions are moving quickly into phase-two pilots involving wholesale settlement, tokenised assets and multilateral cross-border collaboration. In contrast, the UK has opted for a staged approach, focusing on analysis, design papers and structured experimentation through the Digital Pound Lab. However, separately, it has also been investigating the opportunities in the wholesale space too, for example, through its work on synchronisation.
- International interoperability – There are ongoing discussions about how CBDCs might operate in a global context. The BIS project m-Bridge has been part of exploring the opportunities here, but it remains a challenge.
- Strategic framing – While some economies emphasise sovereignty or geopolitical risk, the UK’s motivations continue to centre on domestic payments innovation, competition and maintaining public access to central-bank money in a digital economy. Some of the recent design notes have focused on interoperability with physical cash, alias services and offline payments.
The international conversation on CBDCs “appears to be shifting” in several ways:
- From retail to wholesale – Many 2025 pilots focus on wholesale settlement, tokenised bank liabilities and infrastructure modernisation.
- From domestic to cross-border – Several jurisdictions are testing mechanisms for faster and more secure cross-border flows, which often involve regional partnerships. Outside of a Digital Pound, the Bank is actively involved in several BIS projects, such as Meridian and Agora.
- From innovation to risk management – Issues such as cybersecurity, operational resilience and financial stability are now featuring more prominently in central-bank discussions around the world.
- From isolated projects to ecosystem thinking – CBDCs are increasingly discussed alongside stablecoins, tokenised deposits and real-time payment upgrades, rather than as standalone systems. This aligns with the multi-money vision of the Bank of England.
Overall, it remains hard to envisage a “one-size-fits-all approach to CBDC for different jurisdictions.”
Varied motivations, local payments ecosystems, and “market gaps will drive different approaches.”
As noted in the update from UK Finance, interest from central banks in retail CBDCs does appear “to be cooling, and in its place a focus on core central bank settlement innovation is continuing to develop.”