The central banks of Italy and South Korea have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to cooperate on the development and deployment of their respective central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). The Bank of Italy announced the MoU, which focuses on information and communication technology (ICT) issues related to real-time settlement systems and CBDCs. Italy has been exploring interoperability in its solutions for settling distributed ledger technology (DLT)-based transactions, while South Korea has already begun piloting its CBDC infrastructure technology with the support of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). South Korea plans to invite 100,000 citizens to test its CBDC starting in 2024. Despite progress in CBDC development globally, there is still opposition to digital currencies, with concerns raised about privacy invasion.