Institute for Information Systems Engineering (CIISE), Concordia University / Institut d’ingénierie des systèmes d’information de l’Université Concordia

Published purpose

There are many technical complexities involved in designing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) but one of the most complicated of the design parameters is privacy. This research project has one main deliverable: to produce an in-depth study of the design landscape for privacy in CBDCs, both for an academic audience and for a general audience. To ensure the results have technical depth, the research explores suitable designs through experimentation, such as cryptographic protocol design and blockchain smart contracts (all code artifacts released free and open source with performance measurements). This project does not take a normative position that a CBDC ought to be deployed in a modern economy. Rather, it takes the position that CBDCs are a possibility. The project affirms that privacy must be a starting point for designing a CBDC, not an afterthought.