COVID-19 has pushed Bank of Canada toward 'digital loonie'

The Canadian central bank would be a better steward of financial data than private stablecoin issuers, according to one deputy governor.
The Bank of Canada is pushing ahead with digitizing its currency.
In a speech today, BoC deputy governor Timothy Lane noted that the COVID-19 pandemic had accelerated the need to digitize cash. Lane said: “The pandemic may bring us to a decision point sooner than we had anticipated.”
Lane was, however, careful to specify that “a digital currency is by no means a foregone conclusion.” In October, Lane that said central banks should stand by with digital tokens in the event that Libra, now Diem fell to regulators. Today, he noted that central banks may be more trustworthy than private stablecoin suppliers in terms of use of consumer data:
Today’s remarks fall in line with the steady decline of cash usage in Canada over the course of 2020, a trend that Lane noted in December. 

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