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Norway Pauses Digital Krone Plan as Central Bank Sees No Immediate Need

Norges Bank pivots to tokenisation experiments, with a technical report due in the first quarter of 2026.

Overview

  • The central bank said Norway’s existing payment rails deliver stable operations, fast settlement, low costs and robust contingency arrangements.
  • Officials stressed the decision is not final and the option to introduce a retail CBDC remains open if payment risks or habits change.
  • Norges Bank will continue research on both retail and wholesale CBDC models and track developments in the Eurosystem and Sweden.
  • Practical tests will focus on tokenised solutions in collaboration with industry to explore efficiency gains and settlement risk reduction.
  • Despite one of the world’s lowest cash-usage levels, the bank concluded the current infrastructure meets public needs without a digital krone now.