Central banks would need both wholesale and retail digital currencies, the Banque de France’s (BdF) governor said on May 6.

They needed to take risks, rather than wait for “absolute certainty” on new technology, said François Villeroy de Galhau. He told an event at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) that central banks in Europe shouldn’t “lag behind” on technology such as tokenisation.

Villeroy de Galhau said the way central bank money was supplied in the 21^st century needed to adapt: