Embedding of public value in central bank digital currencies: human rights implications in digital payment systems

Existing research on Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) primarily focuses on their payment efficiency and socioeconomic implications, including privacy protection and social welfare enhancement, while also addressing the relationship between financial instruments and human rights. In contrast, this paper addresses a critical issue in the path of CBDCs’ development that must be resolved during the technical design phase across states: whether CBDCs shall be designed to compete with cash and other cryptocurrencies for market share or maintain a distinctive, complementary role. Recognizing that CBDCs constitute merit goods as sovereign-issued legal tender that shall advance public value and facilitate human rights, this study employs an analytical public value framework from public administration theory to examine how human rights law is embedded in CBDCs’ technologies. Building on a critique of existing payment systems’ human rights shortcomings, the article evaluates how CBDCs’ technical designs support the protection of five fundamental rights including privacy, non‑discrimination, accessibility, social security, and equal access to public services despite inherent tensions. The analysis concludes that while CBDCs’ technologies are inherently neutral, their institutional design carries significant human rights implications. Therefore, instead of displacing other currencies, CBDCs shall maintain a distinctive, human‑rights‑based positioning.