Some central banks are ramping up their explorations of central bank digital currencies, a new survey shows.

According to a poll of central banks from foreign exchange firm BIS, there was a "sharp uptick" of CBDC-related experiments among central banks that serve advanced economies in 2023. Among those central banks, proof of concept projects increased 35% from 2022 to 2023, while CBDC pilots roughly tripled during the same period. 

“The survey suggests that central banks are proceeding at their own speed, taking diverse approaches and considering different design features,” the BIS researchers wrote in a June 2024 paper. 

Only 83 institutions participated in the survey, representing just a little more than a third of all 222 central banks. According to BIS, 28 were central …