BIS finds digital cash offers cash-like privacy but remains unready due to bank data breach risks

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) stated that digital cash can achieve "cash-like privacy" but is not yet "production ready" due to risks such as bank data breaches, as detailed in its Project Aurum Phase 2 report. BIS found that compromising one bank may expose its customer data, but this would not expose customer identities from other counterparties, and a validator-level compromise alone would not expose end users. The report explores technical features for a privacy-preserving central bank digital currency (CBDC) to balance complete anonymity and full transaction transparency.