Central banks eye digital cash to fend off crypto threat

The world’s largest central banks – and even some of the smaller ones – are toying with the idea of issuing digital currencies. These would allow holders to make payments via the internet and possibly even offline, competing with existing means of electronic payment such as digital wallets, online banks or cryptocurrencies. Unlike these private solutions, an official digital currency would be backed by the central bank, making it “risk-free” like banknotes and coin. While most projects are still at an early stage, they have switched into higher gear in the past year after Facebook Inc announced plans to create…