Despite its high awareness, the digital Canadian dollar failed to impress

A recent public consultation on the Central Bank of Canada's digital currency (CBDC) initiative revealed a general negative sentiment among Canadians, confirming the Bank of Canada's concerns around nationwide adoption.

Through the “Digital Canadian Dollar Public Consultation Report,” the Bank of Canada intends to identify a place for CBCCs in a world dominated by digital fiat payments and credit cards. However, in a survey that gathered 89,423 responses, Canadians called for a regulation requiring merchants to accept cash as payment.

A Bank of Canada report shows that nearly 95% of respondents have heard of or are familiar with the concept of a digital Canadian dollar. While awareness is one of the keys to widespread adoption, the scale does not hold for Canada.

Among respondents, 93% primarily make daily paper cash payments but also use credit and debit cards and other online payments. Additionally, 15% of respondents held Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies.

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Most respondents advised the Bank of Canada to stop researching and develop digital Canadian dollar issuance capabilities. However, the public believes that their opinions will not be taken into account for the CBCCC initiative.

Almost all respondents prefer to use payment methods instead of CBCC. Interestingly, people who knew about CBDCs were more reluctant to use the technology compared to those who did not.

Additionally, the smaller demographic of respondents who previously owned crypto showed a greater interest in using CDCs.

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