TechFlow news — At today's Bloomberg event, Citigroup CEO Michael Corbat said the bank is helping governments "around the world" create sovereign digital currencies, known as central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
"We've been partnering with a number of governments around the world on the creation and commercialization of [sovereign digital currencies]," he said.
He also stated that even in an era of central bank digital currencies, cryptocurrencies will still play a role. "Some of these currencies will be persistent alternatives, persistent alternative sources of payment that people can leverage based on their fundamental characteristics," he said—appearing to refer to stablecoins.
Citigroup is the latest private company to actively assist the public sector in developing digital currencies. Within the past year, financial services firms Mastercard and Visa have both launched CBDC initiatives.
Michael Corbat predicted three years ago that CBDCs would emerge as a direct response to the threat posed by Bitcoin, and Citibank has been researching digital currencies since at least 2014.
