Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) could make people better off, but policy-makers would need measures to prevent volatility, new research published by the Netherlands Bank finds. 

In particular, the working paper states that banks might have to impose hard limits on the amount of CBDC customers could hold during the transition period. It suggests domestic output would remain broadly stable and welfare would increase slightly once a country’s CBDC had had time to bed in. 

But without