The Central Bank of Egypt is considering issuing a cryptocurrency.
The Central Bank of Egypt was recently considering whether to allow Facebook's Libra project to operate within the country. However, during these discussions, a new idea has emerged – the country's central bank is considering launching its own cryptocurrency.
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An anonymous source from the Central Bank of Egypt has confirmed that the bank is looking to develop its own cryptocurrency. The concept will be similar to the cryptocurrency project of the Arab Monetary Union.
Egypt Determined Not to Fall Behind
It is understood that Egypt was inspired by the cryptocurrency of the Arab Monetary Union, which was launched at the end of last year and is still in development. The goal is to create closer ties between the banking sectors of the two countries and to serve as a new means of payment between them. Egypt is currently exploring a similar idea to enhance the efficiency of its banking industry.
The report indicates that the Central Bank of Egypt is closely studying cryptocurrencies. While no final decision has been made yet, the prospects look promising.
Mohamed Hashem, former banking expert at Suez Canal Bank, believes that countries opposing cryptocurrencies will ultimately lag behind others. He stated:
Governments must enter the world of cryptocurrencies and address the competitive aspect, as these currencies may continue to grow, and countries without cryptocurrencies may be negatively affected.
A Global Currency Arms Race
In fact, the Central Bank of Egypt has previously taken a regulatory stance against Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies, considering them hostile and even contemplating a complete ban in 2017, leaving most parts of the country in a legal gray area.
Therefore, the central bank of Egypt may introduce its own cryptocurrency to curb the influence of Bitcoin domestically.
Furthermore, the People's Bank of China announced on August 11th at the China Finance 40 Group meeting that it will soon launch its central bank digital currency, claiming that the project has been in development since 2014 and is now "ready for deployment."
Turkey, on the other hand, plans to create a blockchain-based cryptocurrency by 2023. Earlier reports also indicated that according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) survey report on June 27th, central banks around the world are likely to issue cryptocurrencies in the future.
Overall, besides the ongoing interest rate wars, governments worldwide seem to be increasingly aware of the rise of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.
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