Nonprofit organization the Digital Dollar Project (DDP) is planning five pilot programs to explore the design and use of a central bank digital currency (CBDC).

The DDP’s initial work will be funded by Accenture, a consultancy group and co-founder of the project. It will look to measure the “value” of a US central bank digital currency and flesh out its design.

Accenture and the DDP entered into an agreement last year to accelerate research and public debate regarding the advantages of a CBDC for the US.

The pilots, as well as analysing the technical and functional requirements, will also test various applications and explore the potential for use across both retail and wholesale markets.

David Treat, senior managing director at Accenture, said: “Central bank digital currencies will play an important role in how we modernize our financial systems — increasing access to and inclusion within them while also providing a valuable innovation frontier for new products and services in conjunction with other key innovations such as digital identity.”

Christopher Giancarlo, former chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and co-founder of the DDF, told Reuters: “There are conferences and papers coming out every week around the world on CBDCs based on data from other countries. What there is not, is any real data and testing from the United States to inform that debate. We’re seeking to generate that real-world data.”

The project is intended to work in tandem with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

According to data from ResearchandMarkets.com, the global cryptocurrency market is anticipated to grow from $1.6 billion in 2021 to $2.2 billion by 2026.