Global retail CBDC programme matrix — Africa, Caribbean, Asia, UK
ConfidenceConfirmedUpdated2026-07-30Review by2026-10-30Sources8Machine-translatedOriginal (JA)
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This entry sits under fintech index and provides a dated comparison of seven often-grouped public-money or public-payment projects. Read it with eNaira, Sand Dollar, JAM-DEX, digital pound, and e-CNY. For wholesale projects, see mBridge and Project Agorá.
[!info] TL;DR The seven names are not seven observations at the same stage or of the same instrument. Sand Dollar, eNaira, and JAM-DEX are issued retail CBDCs; e-CNY remains described through pilot and rollout materials; the ECCB’s DCash pilot ended on January 12, 2024 while work toward DCash 2.0 continued; Bakong is an NBC-operated payment system linking bank and payment-service-provider accounts rather than a directly comparable central-bank liability; and the digital pound remains a design project with no launch decision. Comparisons must therefore separate legal form, programme stage, distribution model, and metric definition. ^[https://cdn.eccb-centralbank.org/documents/2024-07-03-12-52-21-2023-2024-Annual-Report.pdf] ^[https://www.nbc.gov.kh/download_files/publication/annual_rep_eng/AR_ENG_as_of_16.07.25_Clean.pdf] ^[https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/the-digital-pound/progress-update-digital-pound-design-phase]
Comparison method
The snapshot date is July 30, 2026. Each row is based on an official central-bank publication. IMF papers are useful for historical analysis, but no adoption figure is carried forward unless its date, unit, and denominator are stated. “Registered wallet,” “linked account,” “transaction,” and “active user” are not interchangeable.
Matrix A · Programme status
Each table row has its own official source because status and launch dates come from different authorities.
| Programme | Confirmed public status as of 2026-07-30 | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 🇧🇸 Sand Dollar | National release began 2020-10-20 through authorised financial institutions; the Central Bank describes it as Bahamian digital currency / CBDC | ^[https://www.centralbankbahamas.com/news/public-notices/the-sand-dollar-is-on-schedule-for-gradual-national-release-to-the-bahamas-in-mid-october-2020] |
| 🇨🇳 e-CNY | Public pilot / rollout continues; official cumulative transaction indicators are reported, but the cited PBoC material does not declare a single “national launch” date | ^[https://www.pbc.gov.cn/xindaishichangsi/5443861/5443865/5443892/5957f8d15a824e9e88d01710873482d3/2025110711361912922.pdf] |
| 🇰🇭 Bakong | NBC-operated payment system launched 2020-10-20; it connects participating banks and payment service providers | ^[https://www.nbc.gov.kh/download_files/publication/annual_rep_eng/AR_ENG_as_of_16.07.25_Clean.pdf] |
| 🇪🇨 DCash | Pilot commenced 2021-03-31 and concluded 2024-01-12 after 34 months; ECCB describes the next step as transition toward DCash 2.0 | ^[https://cdn.eccb-centralbank.org/documents/2024-07-03-12-52-21-2023-2024-Annual-Report.pdf] |
| 🇳🇬 eNaira | CBN retail CBDC launched in 2021; the official design paper describes the operating model and objectives | ^[https://www.cbn.gov.ng/Out/2021/CCD/eNaira%20Design%20Paper.pdf] |
| 🇯🇲 JAM-DEX | Phased rollout proceeded in 2022; 2022 amendments made CBDC legal tender and confirmed Bank of Jamaica as sole issuer | ^[https://boj.org.jm/jam-dex-phased-rollout-progresses/] |
| 🇬🇧 digital pound | Design phase ends in 2026; no decision to introduce a digital pound had been made in the March 2026 update | ^[https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/the-digital-pound/progress-update-digital-pound-design-phase] |
The earlier label “DCash discontinued after a two-month outage” was misleading. The 2022 service interruption is documented, but ECCB’s own 2023–24 annual report characterises January 2024 as the planned close of the pilot and discusses requirements for a later commercial CBDC deployment.
Matrix B · Legal and monetary character
The table distinguishes central-bank liability, legal-tender status, payment-system balance, and proposal status using the authorities’ own materials. ^[https://cdn.centralbankbahamas.com/documents/2021-02-15-11-24-12-Central-Bank-Electronic-Bahamian-Dollars-Regulations-2021.pdf] ^[https://boj.org.jm/jam-dex-phased-rollout-progresses/] ^[https://cdn.eccb-centralbank.org/documents/2024-07-03-13-20-32-Independent-Auditors-Report-and-Financial-Statements—March-2024.pdf] ^[https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/the-digital-pound/progress-update-digital-pound-design-phase]
| Programme | Public-money character | Important boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Sand Dollar | Electronic Bahamian dollars issued by the Central Bank and legal tender under the cited 2021 regulations | Distributed through supervised wallet providers |
| e-CNY | Digital form of renminbi issued under the PBoC programme | Pilot scope and cumulative use do not equal a separately dated nationwide launch |
| Bakong | Central infrastructure records transfers between participating institutions and their customers | Do not treat every linked account balance as direct NBC-issued CBDC |
| DCash | Digital version of the Eastern Caribbean dollar issued by ECCB during the pilot | Pilot DCash ceased to be accepted as legal tender after platform conclusion |
| eNaira | CBN-issued digital form of the naira | Current adoption must be sourced separately from the 2021 design paper |
| JAM-DEX | Bank of Jamaica CBDC and legal tender | Wallet providers distribute it to users |
| digital pound | Potential future BoE liability | Would require a positive decision and primary legislation before launch |
This legal classification is more useful than ranking projects from “pure” to “quasi” without a published definition.
Matrix C · Issuance and distribution
The table records only distribution features stated in official programme documents. ^[https://www.cbn.gov.ng/Out/2021/CCD/eNaira%20Design%20Paper.pdf] ^[https://www.centralbankbahamas.com/news/public-notices/the-sand-dollar-is-on-schedule-for-gradual-national-release-to-the-bahamas-in-mid-october-2020] ^[https://boj.org.jm/jam-dex-phased-rollout-progresses/] ^[https://cdn.eccb-centralbank.org/documents/2024-07-03-12-52-21-2023-2024-Annual-Report.pdf] ^[https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/the-digital-pound/progress-update-digital-pound-design-phase]
| Programme | Confirmed distribution arrangement |
|---|---|
| Sand Dollar | Central Bank issues; authorised financial institutions provide wallets and distribute the CBDC |
| e-CNY | Two-tier operating model through authorised operators, with programme scope changing over time |
| Bakong | NBC operates the core system; participating banks and payment service providers connect customer accounts and apps |
| DCash | ECCB minted and issued pilot DCash to financial institutions, which transferred it to consumer or merchant wallets |
| eNaira | CBN design uses financial institutions and wallets in an intermediated model |
| JAM-DEX | Wallet providers distribute JAM-DEX; Bank of Jamaica identified Lynk during the 2022 phased rollout and later listed additional onboarding activity |
| digital pound | Proposed public-private platform model remains under design; experiments do not constitute a final architecture |
The sources do not support a causal claim that one “anchor wallet” explains adoption across all programmes. Commercial incentives may be analysed, but they must not be presented as a measured cross-country result without comparable evidence.
Matrix D · Identity and holding limits
Published KYC tiers and limits are programme-specific and can change. The table therefore states the comparison boundary rather than reproducing uncited caps from different dates. ^[https://cdn.centralbankbahamas.com/documents/2021-02-15-11-24-12-Central-Bank-Electronic-Bahamian-Dollars-Regulations-2021.pdf] ^[https://www.cbn.gov.ng/Out/2021/CCD/eNaira%20Design%20Paper.pdf] ^[https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/the-digital-pound/progress-update-digital-pound-design-phase]
| Programme group | What can be compared | What needs a dated product or rule source |
|---|---|---|
| Issued CBDCs | Authorities use risk-based onboarding and wallet / intermediary controls | Current balance, transaction, or tier limits |
| Bakong | Participating institutions perform customer onboarding under the payment-system model | Whether an account class is comparable to a CBDC wallet tier |
| digital pound | Lab experiments have tested tiered and tourist-wallet concepts | Any final holding limit, KYC tier, or production policy |
The prior table’s specific caps for Sand Dollar, e-CNY, Bakong, eNaira, and the digital pound mixed proposals, product rules, and unsourced approximations. They are removed pending direct dated rule or provider documentation.
Matrix E · Adoption evidence
The table is an evidence-availability matrix, not an adoption league table. It is sourced to central-bank reports and preserves each metric’s grain. ^[https://www.pbc.gov.cn/xindaishichangsi/5443861/5443865/5443892/5957f8d15a824e9e88d01710873482d3/2025110711361912922.pdf] ^[https://cdn.eccb-centralbank.org/documents/2024-07-03-12-52-21-2023-2024-Annual-Report.pdf] ^[https://www.nbc.gov.kh/download_files/publication/annual_rep_eng/AR_ENG_as_of_16.07.25_Clean.pdf]
| Evidence type | Safe interpretation |
|---|---|
| PBoC cumulative e-CNY transactions and value | Demonstrates cumulative activity through the stated reporting date; it is not daily-active-user share |
| NBC Bakong accounts and transaction data | Describes a broad payment-system network; it is not directly comparable to central-bank-liability wallet adoption |
| ECCB pilot operational measures | Describes pilot performance and lessons; platform closure is not by itself an adoption-failure metric |
| Registered wallet count | Enrollment measure only unless an authority also publishes activity and unique-user definitions |
| Active wallet / population percentage | Comparable only when period, activity threshold, duplicate-account treatment, and denominator match |
Accordingly, the earlier “40–60% Bakong adoption,” “single-digit-million e-CNY daily active,” and cross-programme winner / failure rankings are withdrawn. They were not supported at a common metric grain.
Matrix F · Technology and vendor evidence
The table separates documented implementation facts from unsupported vendor-performance inference. ^[https://cdn.eccb-centralbank.org/documents/2024-07-03-12-52-21-2023-2024-Annual-Report.pdf] ^[https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/the-digital-pound/lab]
| Question | Evidence rule |
|---|---|
| Named technology supplier | Cite the central bank’s procurement, contract, or programme announcement for that deployment |
| Ledger design | Cite a dated technical paper; do not infer a specific open-source stack from marketing shorthand |
| Operational incident | Cite the authority’s incident or annual report and separate incident duration from programme outcome |
| Vendor-to-adoption causality | Requires comparable multi-programme evidence; shared supplier is not proof of cause |
| Digital-pound technology | Lab components are demonstrations; the Bank says no decision has been made on whether DLT would form part of the design |
The former “Bitt cluster versus eCurrency winner” comparison is removed. It combined incomplete vendor facts with an unsourced adoption ranking and implied causality that the official reports do not establish.
Cross-border boundary
Cross-border links must be evaluated rail by rail. The Hong Kong e-CNY/FPS arrangement is a retail cross-boundary service; mBridge is a wholesale platform; Bakong’s bilateral and regional QR connections are payment-system interoperability. These should not be combined into one “CBDC integration” count. See e-CNY update, mBridge, and the NBC annual report. ^[https://www.hkma.gov.hk/eng/news-and-media/press-releases/2024/05/20240517-4/] ^[https://www.bis.org/about/bisih/topics/cbdc/mcbdc_bridge.htm] ^[https://www.nbc.gov.kh/download_files/publication/annual_rep_eng/AR_ENG_as_of_16.07.25_Clean.pdf]
An absence of a link in one source is not proof that a programme has “none.” Current corridor claims should name the counterpart, service, launch state, and official source.
Analytical use
The corrected matrix supports four defensible questions:
- Is the instrument issued public money, a payment-system representation of deposits, a completed pilot, or a proposal?
- Which institutions distribute it, and which entity bears the user relationship?
- Are reported numbers cumulative transactions, wallets, linked accounts, active users, or population shares?
- Is a cross-border connection retail, wholesale, bilateral QR interoperability, or only an experiment?
Those questions prevent false rankings while retaining the useful comparative structure.
Related
- Wiki Index
- Fintech Index
- Nigeria eNaira
- Bahamas Sand Dollar
- Jamaica JAM-DEX
- BoE digital pound consultation
- e-CNY supply-chain expansion
- CBDC multi-tier architecture overview
- mBridge BIS multi-CBDC bridge
- BIS Project Agorá
Sources
- CBN · eNaira Design Paper: https://www.cbn.gov.ng/Out/2021/CCD/eNaira%20Design%20Paper.pdf
- Central Bank of The Bahamas · national release notice: https://www.centralbankbahamas.com/news/public-notices/the-sand-dollar-is-on-schedule-for-gradual-national-release-to-the-bahamas-in-mid-october-2020
- Central Bank of The Bahamas · 2021 regulations: https://cdn.centralbankbahamas.com/documents/2021-02-15-11-24-12-Central-Bank-Electronic-Bahamian-Dollars-Regulations-2021.pdf
- Bank of Jamaica · JAM-DEX phased rollout: https://boj.org.jm/jam-dex-phased-rollout-progresses/
- ECCB · Annual Report 2023–2024: https://cdn.eccb-centralbank.org/documents/2024-07-03-12-52-21-2023-2024-Annual-Report.pdf
- PBoC · e-CNY indicators: https://www.pbc.gov.cn/xindaishichangsi/5443861/5443865/5443892/5957f8d15a824e9e88d01710873482d3/2025110711361912922.pdf
- NBC · Annual Report 2024: https://www.nbc.gov.kh/download_files/publication/annual_rep_eng/AR_ENG_as_of_16.07.25_Clean.pdf
- Bank of England · March 2026 digital-pound progress update: https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/the-digital-pound/progress-update-digital-pound-design-phase
- Bank of England · Digital Pound Lab: https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/the-digital-pound/lab
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