Discussions around ways to shorten local settlement cycles within the next five years have got most securities firms eyeing local central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). 

CitiBank’s latest edition of the Securities Services Evolution whitepaper highlighted India’s recent move to T+1 settlements, which ensures all trade-related settlements conclude within 24 hours of a transaction. As the United States and Canada, among other leading economies, step up efforts to transition to T+1 settlement cycles, the CitiBank survey gauges the importance of distributed ledger technology (DLT), CBDCs and stablecoins in expediting this transition.

87% of the 483 survey respondents and 12 financial markets infrastructures (FMIs) see CBDCs as a viable option for shorter settlement cycles by 2026. The support for CBDCs saw a near 21% increase from securities firms when compared to the previous year.

The year-on-year growing support for digital cash is supported by domestic pilots and cross-border initiatives. The Citibank report read:

“Recent crossborder multi-bank experiments are now providing detailed insights into how central bank funding can be operationalized in a digital context, both internally and across entire markets.”

However, over the next years, some of the major roadblocks to widespread adoption of digital assets include regulatory uncertainties, limited knowledge, backward compatibility with traditional financial systems and blockchain interoperabilities, among others, as listed below.

Out of the various financial institutions, institutional investors, banks and asset managers have the greatest ability to scale and deliver market-wide solutions, a crucial determinant to the widespread adoption of CBDCs, stablecoins and other centrally governable financial instruments.

In the coming five years, by 2028, financial aspirations will move beyond T+1, envisions Citibank’s report. Some anticipated changes will include the mainstreaming of DLTs, shorter settlement cycles, digital cash-focused funding mechanisms and removal of core banking systems.

Just a month after India pitched the idea of conducting cross-border payments using its CBDC to 18 central banks, the Reserve Bank of Australia completed its in-house CBDC pilot.

The Australian central bank believes that a CBDC may support financial innovation in areas such as debt securities markets, could promote innovation in emerging private digital money sectors and enhance resilience and inclusion within the wider digital economy.