Asked if and when they plan to issue digital currencies, central bank officials around the world rarely offer a categorical answer. In this regard, the prevailing attitude is one of caution, due to the novelty and the technical implications involved. On the side of those who could use them, ignorance predominates in relation to the possibility of their issuance.
Part of that lack of definition comes from the very origin of digital currencies. The bitcointhe first and best known, emerged precisely as an alternative to the official currencies issued by central banks, in the midst of the crisis that gave way to what is now called the Great Recession of 2008. In other words, they emerged to avoid the use of traditional currencies, relying on an autonomous mathematical mechanism dependent on the participation of a broad community of users. Nobody in particular controls them individually, because the emissions, holdings and transactions are validated by the collective work of the community, and registered in a chain of encrypted blocks that follow established mathematical principles.
This origin causes that the concept of an official digital currency seems to contravene several of the basic purposes of the cryptocurrenciesbecause to the extent that the authorities are the ones who decide the amount of the issue and corroborate the holdings, the mechanism would cease to be independent and anonymous.
This perception is due to the assumption that cryptocurrencies officers would have all the characteristics of those currently circulating. In reality, however, what is sought is to take advantage of virtual currencies operated by algorithms, whose existence is a result of advances in computing. It is estimated that they will be more efficient, secure, agile and less expensive than traditional currencies, without expecting them to replace all the others.
