Quinlan & Associates have noted that during the past decade, CBDCs or central bank digital currencies have moved to the top of many reserve banks’ strategic priorities, expanding gradually from just 3 projects in 2016 to 149 by August 2025. Although many initiatives have moved forward from research to proof-of-concept and pilot, there is a clear “difficulty curve”: progress slows sharply beyond the pilot stage, the report claims.
As of the time of writing, only three CBDCs have actually been fully launched (excluding ZiG, which is described as a “gold-backed” digital currency).
The report noted that the majority of CBDC explorations (about 70%) are primarily focused on retail CBDCs (rCBDCs), where several different trends raise concerns regarding potential future adoption:
- Cancellation: Some jurisdictions have abandoned rCBDC projects due to public opposition (e.g., Canada) or limited perceived value (e.g., Denmark, Japan). For many countries, more immediate and tangible value was seen in modernising existing payment systems vs. launching a new digital currency.
- Deferment: Other jurisdictions have paused rCBDC exploration, with Singapore seeing little immediate benefit, the Philippines shifting its focus to wholesale CBDCs (wCBDCs), and South Korea redirecting its focus to stablecoins. These trends highlight the fact that strategic alignment with domestic priorities and payment ecosystem maturity is critical before committing to full exploration of rCBDCs.
- Minimal Uptake: Even among the rCBDCs that have launched, adoption remains very low…. Early pilots in major economies show similar patterns with limited uptake.
According to the research report, there appears to be several factors that continue to weigh on rCBDC adoption, including “marginal user benefits from rCBDCs in already mature digital payment ecosystems.”
Then there is also behavioral inertia as users may need to “adjust their entrenched payment habits and venture into uncharted territories, and concerns around privacy and security, among others.”
In contrast, wCBDCs showcase clearer adoption drivers, including “well-defined user propositions, continuity with existing practices, and risk reduction.”
The report concluded:
“The path to more widespread and successful CBDC adoption requires a combination of technical innovation with thoughtful ecosystem design and clear value propositions. By following this roadmap, CBDCs can evolve from experimental projects into effective policy and market instruments, ultimately embedding themselves alongside stablecoins and tokenised deposits as widely adopted instruments with their own clear positioning in the digital economy.”