Designing a Blockchain-based System for Wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency

Abstract

Driven by advancements in financial technology, Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) has garnered significant interest, with over eighty percent of central banks worldwide exploring its potential in 2021. This paper aims to design and implement a wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency (w-CBDC) prototype using the Hyperledger Besu, an Ethereum Virtual Machine-based blockchain platform. To extend the contribution of this paper, an experiment is conducted by creating smart contracts as the basis of digital currency. The smart contract will handle w-CBDC functionalities, such as issuance, redemption, transfer, and Delivery versus Payment (DvP). The results show that implementing w-CBDC functionalities in Hyperledger Besu private blockchain can address the required functionalities. However, privacy remains a notable concern, as anyone running the node can see all the transaction activities on the blockchain.