(Yicai Global) Aug. 6 -- Central bank executives and cryptocurrency experts from a range of nations are looking into the possibility of a digital fiat coin to tame drastic price fluctuations and avert money lost to hackers.

The International Telecommunication Union held a three-day digital currency workshop starting July 18, where top financial figureheads held talks on the advancement of digital money and the problems that face the sector.

Over 20 central banks have sought to join the ITU since it founded in 2017, Chairman David Wen said at the event. Representatives from seven of them presented their case for sovereign digital currencies during the conference.

Yao Qian, president of the People's Bank of China's Institute of Digital Money, showed off the nation's two-layer model for a digital fiat currency; Gabriela Guibourg from Sweden's central bank demonstrated eKrone, a project which has attracted bids from 33 fintech firms worldwide; and Margarita Lopez, senior vice present at Rizal Commercial Banking in the Philippines, showed off the ePiso project, which has backing from Silicon Valley-based eCurrency and the nation's central bank.

Officials from Brazil and Egypt also presented case studies for digital fiat currencies and announced plans to start pilot programs as soon as possible.

Industry experts also weighed in on the impact of cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings, with many believing the time is ripe for central banks to start looking at forming digital fiat coins. Their development will bring stability, credibility and efficiency to the chaos of crypto, said Sarah Raskin, deputy secretary of the United States Treasury and a former board member for the Federal Reserve.

Editor: James Boynton