Welcome to the Instant Settlement R&D Institute

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Research & Development

CENTRAL BANK DIGITAL CURRENCY

CBDC

Low energy footprint

Learn more about our blockchain R&D low energy consumption, and how CBDCs could build their system sustainable and more “green”.

we are good at what we do

R&D

iSETTLE:ORG is a global independent research and development organization, with a focus on R&D of central bank digital currency platforms and infrastructure, on behalf of everyone.

The world need examples on how to do it differently

Central Bank task

For a nation’s economy to function effectively, its people and businesses must have confidence in its money and
payment services. The nation’s central bank’s task is to maintain the public’s confidence by fostering monetary stability, financial stability, and a safe and efficient payment system.

Open financial ecosystem

Every Central Bank around the world should be able to provide millions of licensed businesses of all sizes – from startups to large enterprises with accounts and a CBDC platform to develop and settle their clients upon.

Blockchain Science

CBDC R&D with distributed Ledger Technology must be built and designed with security, stability, scalability and efficiency in mind. To settle payments around the world should be instant, easy, cheap and accessible for everyone, everywhere, at any time.

Designed for developers

The world`s most powerful and easy-to-use CBDC platform

We do the heavy lifting so your R&D teams don’t need to spend years stitching together systems that could work.

We bring together all that is required to R&D and maintain a Central Bank Digital Currency.

Why CBDC

We need a better and fair settlement system on a global scale.

Our payment habits are changing: Cash usage is declining in terms of the overall number of cash transactions. A steadily increasing proportion of goods and service purchases are being made online. Online purchases cannot be settled in cash, and the primary method used is payment by card.

For the last hundred years, the central bank has had a monopoly on issuing cash. If we continue with the rapid pace cash decline we see in some societies, states will find themselves in a situation where the roles have changed; where all payments the general public have access to, are issued and controlled by commercial companies and institutions. Except for the central bank internal system for payments between banks and financial institution, private ownership would be in control of the entire payment infrastructure and market.

The payments system is evolving very rapidly! The digitization of the financial system has been going on for decades (e.g., dematerialization of financial assets, electronic trading platforms, digital and mobile banking, etc.).

So, why should cash not also become digital?

The digital currency could become the equivalent and the alternative to cash in an electronic form, complementing the states monetary policy in offering state-backed physical cash!

A central bank digital currency (CBDC) can fulfill important societal functions. If the marginalization of cash continues, a CBDC could ensure that the general public still has access to a state-guaranteed means of payment. State presence on the payment market in the form of a CBDC retains the option we have today of being able to convert money in a private bank into state-issued money, which is seen as safeguarding our trust in private money. Alternatively, not to act in the face of current development and completely abandon the payment market to private agents, will mean that the general public will be entirely dependent on private
payment solutions, which will make it more difficult for the Central bank to promote a safe and efficient payment system.

Central banks existing systems for large-value payments are starting to become outdated.

Central banks have a statutory task to promote a safe and efficient payment system. Increased digitalization means that the use of cash will decline. Developments in the field are always in a change, and within a decade, if the current trend in the high-tech FinTech penetrated areas continue to spread around the world, we can find ourselves in a situation where cash is no longer generally accepted as a means of payment. Cash will be too expensive to accept, and digitalize. New technology has brought up some critical questions for the central bank’s responsibility towards the general public. The central banks around the world are in discussion with elected politicians in deciding to react or not to react to the changing innovations that are happening in the payments sector.

Will the Central Bank pass responsibility for payments to the private sector, or will they continue to supply a payment alternative to the general public with issuing of digital central bank currency.

Central bank inactivity in these critical time of change leaves the people entirely dependent on corporations and privately owned payment solutions – which again ultimately make it difficult for the Central bank to promote a safe and efficient payment system for the general public. As society continues to adopt electronic payments, it will after awhile no longer be profitable for merchants to accept cash. If the trend continues at this ever-accelerating pace, some countries may find itself during the next decade in a position where cash is no longer generally accepted by people and retailers.

Cash has been the central banks offer to the public as a means of confidence to facilitated trade in goods and services.
The new and changing digital payment market is heading towards that all means of payment available to the general public is controlled by private corporations and organizations. If the central bank, mandated by the state, do not have a payment solution to offer the general public, as an alternative to the few private solutions that will corner the market in the future. This decision can lead to a stop in innovation, development, and free competition. So, what the state end up with is an unstable payment eco-system, at the risk of undermining confidence in the countries whole monetary system.  

“These problems will help be balanced or reduced by issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) to the general public”

What can the Central Bank Digital Currency provide?

The digital currency could become, and be the alternative to, cash in electronic form and a complement to existing physical cash. The general public will have access to digital money – backed by the central bank. The digital currency will enable the state’s ability to maneuver payments in major crisis situations, when private payment systems may fail as the private market cannot be expected to take all the responsibility for ensuring that payments will function when a crisis occurs. A CBDC will be an alternative system to the private one, and thereby give stability in the national payment system.

A state-backed CBDC platform could offer an open and neutral infrastructure architecture which private payment service providers, FinTechs, banks, and licensed financial companies can join if they wish to provide services to individuals, households, and companies. An open platform will boost the nation’s innovation, reduce the fees charged to the general public, and increase competition – and speed…

For the CBDC to act like cash.

It must be possible to make physical purchases in a store as well as online. The digital currency platform, which is the core protocol, must be built to interact with an unlimited number of other systems, financial institutions and banks. Companies need to be able to join the Central Bank Digital Currency platform in order to innovate, develop and offer payment services to individuals, organizations and companies. The platform needs to have basic features built and integrated, e.g. enable anti-money laundering (AML), Know your customer (KYC), Anti-Corruption (AM) systems, features for digital currency to be easily moved into and out of the platform. And maybe to provide a standard underlying back-office architecture for the financial institutions that will be joining the CBDC platform.

Should the Central Bank Digital Currency be value-based or account-based?

Legally speaking, a value-based digital currency is classed as e-money in most jurisdictions, while an account-based digital currency will be linked to a deposit. One option to offer a digital central bank currency which will act as cash, could be to offer it in the same way as most central bank notes, or cash, is offered in society today – which is widely available to all people, households, organizations, and companies regardless of country of origin and domicile. To make use of the digital currency and to open a digital currency account, it needs to be assessed based on the conditions and local rules the state has set, just as a bank is responsible for following the central banking guidelines and regulations when a client wants to open an account.

The demand for central bank digital currency outlines the ramification for financial stability and monetary policy.

How financial stability and monetary policy will be affected by a CBDC, depends on how high the demand for the digital currency will be. Demand will depend on how the CBDC and platform is designed, and how easy it is for people and companies to join. The effects on the financial system will be insignificant if demand is low. The consequence is that some banks receive fewer deposits, which lead to the need
for some extra funding. In times of financial unease, when the people want to withdraw their assets from weak banks, the digital currency will make the transit from the banking system to state-guaranteed money both quicker and safer, compared to how traditional banking systems function today. Most central banks already have the means to handle this kind of situation, but the digital currency will make the system more efficient and less burdensome for the holder of this digital currency.

As marginalization of cash continues, a Central Bank Digital Currency will ensure that the general public still has access to a state-guaranteed means of payment.

Coding the CBDC platform. A technology- first approach

FAST

A CENTRAL BANK DIGITAL CURRENCY TRANSACTION SHOULD BE INSTANT AND EASY TO SETTLE, NO MATTER WHO YOU SENT TO, OR WHERE YOU'RE SPENDING YOUR CBDCS.

STABLE

CENTRAL BANK DIGITAL CURRENCY IS BACKED BY THE CENTRAL BANK AND HAS THE VALUE EQUIVALENCY OF ONE-TO-ONE WITH OTHER CENTRAL BANK CURRENCY. THE CBDC WILL ALWAYS BE SETTLED 1 TO 1 FOR EQUIVALENT ALTERNATIV CURRENCY AT THE CENTRAL BANK.

RELIABLE

WHILE CENTRAL BANKS CAN SETTLE DEBTS BY PRINTING MORE MONEY, THAT OPTION IS NOT AVAILABLE TO PRIVATE BANKS. THEREFORE BANKS ONLY GUARANTEE ACCOUNT DEPOSITS FOR UP TO $100,000 AND $250,000 IN SOME COUNTRIES. THAT'S WHY BANKS INSURE USUALY ACCOUNTS FOR UP TO 100.000 USD OR EQUILENT.

SECURE

THE CENTRAL BANK DIGITAL CURRENCY DECENTRALIZED LEDGER TECHNOLOGY IS CONSTRUCTED USING BLOCKCHAIN AND DIRECT ACYCLIC GRAPH TECH FOR BEST PRACTICE IN CRYPTOGRAPHIC SECURITY, SCALABILITY, AND SPEED.

TRUSTLESS

TRUSTLESS = THERE IS NO NEED TO "TRUST" A CENTRAL AUTHORITY WITH THE RESPONSIBILITY OF CONDUCTION, CONFIRMING, OR VERIFYING TRANSACTIONS. THE CBDC CORE IS BUILT TO OPERATE WITHOUT THE NEED FOR TRUST IN A CENTRAL OR ONE SINGULAR OPERATOR: OPEN ACCESS, TIMESTAMP, INSTANT TRANSACTION AND ORDERING THAT CAN`T BE MANIPULATED OR DENIED FINALITY, IS ALL MADE POSSIBLE BY THE CBDC CORE DISTRIBUTED LEDGER TECHNOLOGY.

OPEN

NEW LICENSED FINTECHS, CHALLENGER BANKS, EMI, PI, PSP, VASP COMPANIES SHOULD BE ONBOARDED TO THE CBDC PLATFORM IMMEDIAIMMEDIATELY WITH AN INITIAL ACCOUNT, ACCESS TO DEVELOPMENT TOOLS, AT THE SAME TIME THEY ARE GRANTED THEIR LICENSE. EVERY LISENCED COMPANY WILL HAVE DEPLOYABLE ACCESS TO THE CBDC PLATFORM FOR INSTANT SETTLEMENT AND ANOTHER PLATFORM TO DEVELOP CUSTOMIZED REQUIREMENTS FOR THEIR CUSTOMERS.

GLOBAL

CBDC MUST BE ACCESSIBLE TO ANYONE WITH A SMARTPHONE, DUMB PHONE, AND FOR THOSE WITH DISABILITIES IN SIGHT AND READING. WITHOUT DISCRIMINATION OR UNNECESSARY OVERSIGHT.

Easy

ANY FINANCIAL LICENSED COMPANY SHOULD HAVE DEPLOYABLE ACCESS TO A CBDC PLATFORM FOR INSTANT SETTLEMENT, AND A PLATFORM TO DEVELOP UPON OR TAILOR THEIR CUSTOMER’S NEXT FINTECH INNOVATION.

futureproof

Upgrade without hard forks, integrating new features or bug fixing is essential for a CBDC platform. This capability enables the platform to easily adapt to changes and upgrade itself as better technologies become available.

We want to get involved!

We have the resources and want to donate!
The contributions and profits of our research and project will be invested in furthering new research.
As an independent, non-profit research organization, you will receive confirmation for your tax records. 

Your contribution fuels our cause and aims for world-leading Central Bank Digital Currency research centre.

An open protocol built for everyone

iSETTLE:ORG is an open project founded by donations made by The Digital Cash project: - to nurture cutting-edge blockchain technology, and R&D decentralized instant settlement protocols. .

iSETTLE:ORG has commissioned R&D teams in Europe, Asia, North and South America to prototype and build the first open Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) Platform.

Founded by the industry`s foremost Central Bank Digital Currency and Blockchain Research and Developer

As for R&D partners, we look for those who contribute to value creation and work to increase competitiveness.

Get involved - R&D

The team at iSETTLE:ORG is committed to the mission of developing the CBDC market, securing close to free and instant settlement, and securing a better way to achieve new standards for instant global settlement and FinTech innovation.

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