The issue of creating a new unit of account - central banks digital currencies (CBDC), has been actively discussed in the past two years, both at the level of individual states and the international community. The discussion is based on the legal possibility and economic feasibility of expanding the list of financial instruments by creating a fundamentally new model of digital payments. However, despite the importance of this issue, states and the digital community have not yet come to a common understanding of the starting points on which the concept of a national digital currency (CBDC) should be based. In this regard, the purpose of this study is to identify the legal and economic advantages and disadvantages of two types of CBDC: direct and hybrid. To achieve this goal, the theoretical views on this issue were studied, as well as the conclusions made by experts in the course of a practical study of the CBDC possibilities.