The rapid growth of private digital payments and decentralized cryptocurrencies has prompted central banks to develop their own digital sovereign payment options: Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs).

Central banks evaluate CBDC designs based on their target user base and operational access models:

[Sovereign CBDC Architectures]
  |- Wholesale CBDC -> Limited to financial firms; replaces legacy interbank clearing systems
  |- Retail CBDC ------> Broad public access; functions as a digital version of physical banknotes

Wholesale CBDCs focus on improving settlement efficiency for high-value asset transactions, while retail CBDCs are designed to support financial inclusion, lower consumer transaction fees, and preserve the role of public money in digital retail payments.