Estonia is in the pilot phase.

CBDC History and Development

In 2021, Eesti Pank announced that it had been working with the technology company Guardtime to test the capabilities of a CBDC built on blockchain technology.

Human Rights and Civil Liberties Concerns

Estonia earned a 94 out of 100 in Freedom House’s 2023 Freedom in the World report. There have been reports of issues around the treatment of human rights and civil liberties, but most of those issues do not tie directly into the issuance or use of a CBDC. Furthermore, it must be said that the ability of the government in Estonia to abuse a CBDC directly is debatable because the CBDC that would be used in Estonia would be provided by the European Central Bank—representing the European Union. Even then, however, it’s important to recognize that the creation of a CBDC could open the door to risks to financial privacy and financial freedom.

For additional information on concerns regarding violations of human rights and civil liberties, see the following reports by Amnesty International, Financial Tyranny Index, Freedom House, Human Rights Watch, Privacy International, and the U.S. Department of State. For additional information on concerns regarding the risks of CBDCs, see the following webpage and report by the Cato Institute: The Risks of CBDCs and Central Bank Digital Currency: Assessing the Risks and Dispelling the Myths.

For additional information regarding metrics, the methodology page explains each of the data points and provides their respective sources.