* * *  1 Introduction Dear Steve, Ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to have the opportunity to talk to you about one of the most exciting topics facing central banks today: The future of money. Do we need other forms of money beside the ones we already have? And do we need other forms of central bank money?
Should banks’ deposits with the central bank be tokenised? Should banknotes become digital? There are many questions surrounding “central bank digital currencies” (CBDC). And we still have to find the right answers. But one thing is certain: central banks around the world have undertaken tremendous efforts to assess the potential and investigate the opportunities of CBDC.