Australian Central Bank Chief Believes Regulated Private Tokens Could Be Better Than CBDCs: Report

Australian central bank governor, Philip Lowe, said that privately issued consumer-focused digital tokens could be better than central bank-issued tokens assuming the companies can be regulated appropriately, according to a Reuters report.

• Philip Lowe was speaking at a panel discussion at the G20 finance officials' meeting in Indonesia on Sunday. "I tend to think that the private solution is going to be better - if we can get the regulatory arrangements right," Lowe said.
• Lowe explained that "the private sector is better than the central bank" because it is better "at innovating and designing features for these tokens." He also said there are also "likely to be very significant costs for the central bank setting up a digital token."
• In order for the regulatory framework to be effective, Australia has set a tentative deadline of 2025 to implement crypto regulation, according to its financial regulator.
• Central banks across the world are developing central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), grappling with the idea of either retail for consumers directly or wholesale for banks or both.