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CBDC Basics

What is a CBDC?​

A Central Bank Digital Currency is a digital form of a country's fiat currency, issued and regulated by the central bank. Unlike cryptocurrencies, CBDCs are backed by the full faith and credit of the issuing government.

In pilot environments, CBDCs are used to test digital currency flows in controlled settings — minting new supply, distributing to commercial banks, and tracking circulation — before real-world rollout.

Why a console?​

Central banks need institutional-grade tooling for token operations. They can't use a standard crypto wallet because:

  • Governance — no single person should be able to mint or transfer tokens alone. Every operation requires multiple approvals.
  • Audit trail — every action must be traceable, exportable, and attributable to a specific person.
  • Role separation — different people have different responsibilities (issuance, distribution, compliance oversight).

The CBDC Issuer Console provides a web interface for these institutional workflows on top of the blockchain's governance primitives.

The account model​

The platform uses a small set of preset accounts (multisig groups) that mirror how central banks think about money supply:

STANDBY (Issuing) — the "vault." All newly minted tokens land here, and it is the only account that can mint or burn. Think of it as the central bank's reserve account.

DISTRIBUTION — the "disbursement desk." Tokens move here from Standby, and from here can only go to pre-approved (whitelisted) addresses.

BRIDGING — the fiat↔CBDC bridge that backs conversions (disbursement/redemption) for commercial banks.

This separation enforces a clear boundary: the people who control issuance (mint/burn) need not be the same people who control distribution. Beyond the presets, users can also create CUSTOM accounts. See Accounts for the full breakdown.