Luxembourg CBDC Tracker

Luxembourg is in the pilot phase of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) development. The central banks of France and Luxembourg worked on a joint project to pilot an experimental CBDC for wholesale settlement.

Note: This page is dedicated to the work done by the government in Luxembourg. However, Luxembourg is a member of the European Union and Eurozone. If the European Central Bank launches a CBDC (referred to as a digital euro), then this page will be changed to reflect that. Until then, the Eurozone page has notes about the development of the digital euro.

CBDC History and Development

In July 2019, the Banque Centrale du Luxembourg published a paper on CBDCs. As the author noted, “some common arguments in favor of CBDC may seem simplistic and the field of feasible options may be narrower than often believed.”

In July 2020, the Banque Centrale du Luxembourg published a paper describing “a prototype of decentralised central bank (DCB) Services, allowing the use of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), developed during the fourth EUROchain hackathon.”

In August 2021, the Banque Centrale du Luxembourg published a blog alongside a paper exploring how a CBDC might impact financial stability.

In November 2022, the Banque Centrale du Luxembourg and the Banque de France officially announced their work to pilot a wholesale CBDC (Project Venus).

In January 2023, the Banque Centrale du Luxembourg and the Banque de France published their findings after working together to pilot a wholesale CBDC. Banque Centrale du Luxembourg governor Gaston Reinesch described the effort saying, “Going forward, the BCL intends to enhance its research in the field of wholesale CDBC and welcomes cooperation with, inter alia, other central banks on issues related to cross-border wholesale CBDC models.”

In January 2025, the Banque Centrale du Luxembourg published a study assessing consumer adoption of a potential CBDC.

Human Rights and Civil Liberties Concerns

Luxembourg earned a 97 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 Luxembourg to abuse a CBDC directly is debatable because the CBDC that would be used in Luxembourg 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.