NEW SILK ROAD 
Central Bank Digital Currency
CBDC — Digital Financial Market Infrastructure
CBDC is a means of free, instant, unconditional and legally final transfer of tangible value between any two parties — at any time, anywhere, and without censorship. The removal of barriers of time, distance and legality will improve the economic well-being of all peoples of the Earth.
Legal Tender
CBDC is a digital representation of cash with the same legal properties and payment finality
Full Internet Functionality
CBDC extends the capabilities of cash — payments at any time, anywhere, without intermediaries
Programmability via API
Built-in usage rules, targeted spending controls, and automatic execution of conditions
Recommendations for Crisis Economies
Applying CBDC in Financial and Economic Crises
Liquidity
Provide liquidity through a digital national currency as legal tender
Public Projects
Issue special variants to finance large projects with full tracking capability to reduce corruption
Local Economy
Revitalize local economies with local digital currency to support local producers
Cross-Border Payments
Enable cross-border payments via a supranational digital currency backed by gold
Comparative Analysis
CBDC vs Cash: 27 Characteristics
Key properties of the commercial reference implementation of CBDC compared to physical cash.
| # | Characteristic | Physical Cash | Reference CBDC |
| 1 | Qualifies as legal tender | YES | YES |
| 2 | Legal finality of payments | YES | YES |
| 3 | Interest-free | YES | YES |
| 4 | Bearer financial instrument | YES | YES |
| 5 | Central bank money | YES | YES |
| 6 | Anonymity ** | YES | YES |
| 7 | Censorship-free | YES | YES |
| 8 | Free to use | YES | YES |
| 9 | Accessible to everyone *** | YES | YES |
| 10 | Payment autonomy *** | YES | YES |
| 11 | Instant payments | YES | YES |
| 12 | Retail payments | YES | YES |
| 13 | Interbank payments **** | NO | YES |
| 14 | Cross-border payments ***** | NO | YES |
| 15 | Payment location | required | anywhere |
| 16 | Payment timing | required | anytime |
| 17 | Risk of theft | high | low |
| 18 | Risk of loss | medium | low |
| 19 | Risk of counterfeiting | high | zero |
| 20 | AML compliance level | low | high |
| 21 | AML/KYC support | none | YES |
| 22 | Programmability ****** | none | YES |
| 23 | Face value | fixed | flexible |
| 24 | Issuance cost | high | zero |
| 25 | Destruction cost | high | zero |
| 26 | Maintenance cost | high | low |
| 27 | Public good | YES | YES |
* Proof-of-Concept (PoC) testing conducted | ** payment disclosure only by court order | *** access and anonymity levels depend on applications | **** no special RTGS systems required | ***** international CBDC version required | ****** programmability via API
Architecture
Digital Financial Market Infrastructure (DFMI)
The CBDC reference solution is implemented as DFMI — Digital Financial Market Infrastructure. Each country operates its own national copy of DFMI, which is naturally integrated into the international global DFMI — ensuring CBDC interoperability by design.
Blockchain + Ledger
Distributed transaction ledger — the foundation of the entire system
Key Management / HSM
Hardware key protection — zero counterfeiting risk
AML/KYC + Secure ID
Built-in compliance with anti-money laundering requirements
DAX + ILP
Decentralised asset exchange and inter-ledger protocol
Exchange between CBDC and physical cash is 1:1. Commercial bank money may be exchanged for CBDC at 1:1 or at a free market rate.
Cross-Border Settlements
CBDC in BRICS+ International Payments
Without SWIFT
Direct settlements between BRICS+ central banks without intermediaries
Gold Standard
Supranational digital currency backed by gold for international settlements
National Currencies
Cross-border payments in member countries' national currencies without USD conversion
IoT Payments
Automatic machine-to-machine payments from IoT devices without human involvement
Use Cases
10 CBDC Use Case Scenarios
Launch CBDC with New Silk Road BRICS+
Ready to launch a digital currency for your country?
The New Silk Road BRICS+ platform provides a ready-made commercial CBDC reference implementation — from DFMI architecture to integration with the BRICS+ international settlement infrastructure.