Jordan exploring CBDC, legalizing digital currency trading in the future: report

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Jordan has become the latest country to declare interest in developing a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The country’s central bank has reportedly been exploring the feasibility of a digital dinar, even as the governor said that the government might legalize digital currency trading if proper regulations and guidelines are put in place.

According to reports from local media agencies, Adel Al Sharkas, the governor of the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ), revealed the CBDC plans during a recent meeting in which digital currencies were the focus of discussions. Unblock Media reports that Al Sharkas announced that the CBJ wants to join the likes of China and The Bahamas, who have both made significant progress with the CBDCs, with the latter being the first country globally to roll out a CBDC.

“With regards to the plans to issue a Jordanian digital currency, a study is underway to develop a legal digital currency linked to Jordanian dinar,” the governor said.

The meeting was organized by the Lower House Economy and Investment Committee, with the main agenda being the future of digital currencies in the Middle Eastern country. In this regard, the governor said that the central bank has nothing in particular against Bitcoin. Instead, it’s fully focused on protecting Jordanian investors, and as such, it can only back legalizing digital currency trading if lawmakers issue laws that protect the investors.

“It is possible in the future to allow cryptocurrency trading, after enacting [the] legislation and regulations,” he commented. 

Government officials present at the meeting discussed the regulations that would make digital currencies feasible for investors while not stifling innovation in the industry. They reportedly also looked into the possibility of having a national digital currency trading platform that would abide by all the applicable financial regulations.

Jordan was among the first countries to ban digital currencies back in 2014. According to the governor, this decision was made primarily to protect investors. During the recent meeting, he defended the decision by saying that the likes of China, Morocco, Kuwait, and Egypt have all taken similar measures with the interest of their citizens in mind.

To learn more about central bank digital currencies and some of the design decisions that need to be considered when creating and launching it, read nChain’s CBDC playbook.

Watch: CoinGeek New York presentation, Digital Currency as a Tool for Financial Inclusion