Six major central banks, including the Bank of Japan and the European Central Bank, will meet in mid-April to discuss issues around the prospective introduction of central bank digital currencies, sources close to the matter said Thursday.

The governors of the ECB and central banks in the U.K., Canada, Japan, Sweden and Switzerland will discuss conducting joint research into the possible future introduction of digital currencies, and potential challenges such as cross-currency settlement and defense against cyberattacks, the sources said.

The central bankers will meet in Washington on the sidelines of an International Monetary Fund conference, and will likely issue a report on their discussions later in the year, they added.