Do you know why these cards are so special? They represent the first central bank digital currency (#CBDC) "Avant", which was active in Finland from 1993 until 2006. Yes, there was a CBDC in place, 30 years ago :-) And yes, it got stopped.

A thread. 👇👇 (1/8) With these cards, back in the days, you could use digital central bank money to make everyday purchases. Today, they do not look innovative. But they were 30 years ago. (2/8)

A group of central banks, together with the @BIS_org , is working together to explore central bank digital currencies for the public (retail #CBDC). They published a report on ongoing policy perspectives.

Key messages 👇👇 (1/8) 1️⃣ Development of CBDC work requires careful consideration and engagement with a wide range of stakeholders, including the private sector and legislators. (2/8)

The @ecb has published its second progress report on the investigation phase of a #digitaleuro. The report elaborates on #design and #distribution options for its #CBDC and gives an outlook for remainder of the investigation phase and afterwards.

Some observations 👇(1/12) 🤝 Collaboration: The #ECB stresses that a collaborative approach is key to the preparation and eventual success of a digital euro. Further, it was stressed to continue to actively engage with a large number of stakeholders. (2/12)

The @ecb published an interesting paper on the adoption of central bank digital currencies (#CBDCs). In this paper, the authors suggest to take on a #user-centric perspective. This user-centric focus is very important for the success of a CBDC.

Key highlights 👇(1/12) 1️⃣ Retail CBDCs (rCBDCs) "will likely face challenges in entering the market and being adopted by consumers and merchants." (2/12)

1/ Gestern bin ich der Einladung von @f_schaeffler zum ersten #Blockchain-Roundtable im #Bundestag gefolgt. Im Rahmen des Events kamen 50 Blockchain- und #Krypto-Experten*innen sowie Vertreter*innen der #FDP, des Finanzausschusses und des Finanzministeriums zusammen. 2/ Ein solcher Dialog zwischen Politik und Community ist begrüßenswert, da beide Seiten erheblich voneinander lernen können. Positiv war gleich zu Beginn des Events die Ankündigung, dass die Erhöhung der Haltefrist für #Staking von 1 auf 10 Jahren nicht umgesetzt wird.

1/ I get often asked by people which #books they should read to get a good understanding of #crypto and #Bitcoin. While there are great books out there, the most striking book I read in the past months was about the #Lightning Network, namely “Mastering the Lightning Network”. 2/ Authors are @aantonop @roasbeef @renepickhardt. It is a very detailed book with more than 420 pages. This depth is necessary to truly understand how the Lightning Network works.