Terms covering tokenized deposits, CBDCs, programmable money, digital settlement assets, and related monetary concepts.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Central Bank Digital Currency | A central bank digital currency, or CBDC, is a digital payment instrument denominated in the national unit of account and issued as a direct liability of the central bank. |
| Central Bank Money | Central bank money is money that is a direct liability of a central bank. It includes central bank-issued banknotes and reserve or settlement balances held by eligible institutions, and it can also include a central bank digital currency. |
| Commercial Bank Money | Commercial bank money consists primarily of deposit liabilities issued by commercial banks and used by households and businesses to make payments and hold monetary balances. |
| Digital Bearer Instrument | A digital bearer instrument is a transferable digital claim that can circulate from holder to holder without requiring the issuer to update an account for each transfer. |
| Digital Currency | Digital currency is a broad term for monetary value or money-like claims represented and transferred electronically. |
| Digital Settlement Asset | A digital settlement asset is a digitally represented asset used to discharge payment, securities, foreign-exchange, or other financial obligations on a digital platform. |
| Monetary Liability | A monetary liability is an obligation of an issuer that functions as money or as a redeemable monetary claim for its holder. |
| Programmable Money | Programmable money is digital money whose units carry conditions on their use, such as restrictions on eligible goods, recipients, locations, or time periods. |
| Programmable Settlement | Programmable settlement is the use of software-defined rules to coordinate or execute settlement when specified conditions are satisfied. |
| Retail CBDC | A retail central bank digital currency is a digital central bank liability designed for use by the general public in everyday payments and monetary holdings. |
| Synthetic CBDC | A synthetic CBDC is a policy model in which private institutions issue digital money that is fully backed by central bank reserves or another direct claim on central bank money. |
| Tokenized Deposit | A tokenized deposit is a commercial bank deposit liability recorded on a tokenized or programmable ledger. The depositor's claim remains a claim on the issuing commercial bank. |
| Tokenized Financial Asset | A tokenized financial asset is a financial asset or claim represented on a programmable digital ledger in tokenized form. |
| Tokenized Money | Tokenized money refers to money or monetary claims represented on a digital ledger in tokenized form, often with programmable transfer and settlement functionality. |
| Wholesale CBDC | A wholesale central bank digital currency is a digital central bank liability designed for use by eligible financial institutions in interbank, securities, or other wholesale settlement. |