A new working paper from the Bank of International Settlements shows that the pandemic has led to increased interest among central banks for CBDCs. The share of central banks looking toward retail CBDCs in a one- to six-year timeframe had already doubled in 2019 (before COVID-19 took root) to 20 percent. The report also found that as many as 80 percent of central banks are engaged in research, experimentation or development of CBDCs.