Digital currencies and fintech

• A Tale of Two Countries: Cash Demand in Canada and Sweden

  Staff Discussion Paper 2019-7 Walter Engert, Ben Fung, Björn Segendorf

  Cash use for payments has been steadily decreasing in many countries, including Canada and Sweden. This might suggest an evolution toward a cashless society. But in Canada, cash in circulation relative to GDP has been stable for decades and has even increased in recent years. By contrast, the cash-to-GDP ratio in Sweden has been falling steadily. What has caused this difference? Are there lessons to be learned from comparing the Canadian and Swedish experiences?

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Bank notes, Digital currencies and fintech, Financial services, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): E, E4, E41, E42, E5

• Explaining Unusual Cash Patterns in 2018

  Staff Analytical Note 2019-22 Walter Engert, Ben Fung, Jozsef Molnar, Gradon Nicholls

  There was an unusually large decline of bank notes in circulation in October 2018. Some have argued that this was due to the legalization of cannabis in Canada in mid-October.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Bank notes, Digital currencies and fintech, Financial services JEL Code(s): E, E4, E41, E42, E5, E58

• Privacy as a Public Good: A Case for Electronic Cash

  Staff Working Paper 2019-24 Rodney J. Garratt, Maarten van Oordt

  Cash gives users a high level of privacy when making payments, but the use of cash to make payments is declining. People increasingly use debit cards, credit cards or other methods to pay.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Bank notes, Central bank research, Digital currencies and fintech, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): E, E4, E42, G, G2, G28

• Bank Market Power and Central Bank Digital Currency: Theory and Quantitative Assessment

  Staff Working Paper 2019-20 Jonathan Chiu, Mohammad Davoodalhosseini, Janet Hua Jiang, Yu Zhu

  We show that issuing a deposit-like central bank digital currency (CBDC) with a proper interest rate would encourage banks to pay higher interest to keep their customers. Banks would then attract more deposits and offer more loans. Hence, a CBDC would not necessarily crowd out private banking.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Digital currencies and fintech, Market structure and pricing, Monetary policy, Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): E, E5, E50, E58
• May 2, 2019

  Central Banks of Canada and Singapore conduct successful experiment for cross-border payments using Distributed Ledger Technology

  This joint press release highlights the findings of the Jasper-Ubin experiment on cross-border, cross-currency payments using distributed ledger technology (DLT).

  Content Type(s): Press, Press releases Topic(s): Digital currencies and fintech
• April 26, 2019

  The road to digital money

  

  Stephen Murchison

  From beaver pelts to paper money to digital currencies

  Content Type(s): Publications, The Economy, Plain and Simple Topic(s): Bank notes, Central bank research, Cryptoassets, Cryptocurrencies, Digital currencies and fintech, Financial services, Financial system regulation and policies, Payment clearing and settlement systems
• April 12, 2019

  Panel: International Monetary Fund

  

  

  CBDC: Should Central Banks issue Digital Currencies?  — Deputy Governor Timothy Lane participates in a panel discussion at International Monetary Fund.

  Content Type(s): Press, Speeches and appearances, Webcasts Topic(s): Digital currencies and fintech
• April 11, 2019

  Panel: World Bank

  

  

  Capital Market Development and the FinTech Revolution: Opportunities and Challenges — Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn A. Wilkins participates in a panel discussion at the World Bank.

  Content Type(s): Press, Speeches and appearances, Webcasts Topic(s): Digital currencies and fintech

• Crypto ‘Money’: Perspective of a Couple of Canadian Central Bankers

  Staff Discussion Paper 2019-1 James Chapman, Carolyn A. Wilkins

  The market for cryptoassets has exploded in size in the 10 years since bitcoin was launched. The technology underlying cryptoassets, blockchain, has also been held up as a technology that promises to transform entire industries.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Bank notes, Digital currencies and fintech, Financial services, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): E, E4, E41, E42, E5, E51, E58, H, H4, P, P4, P43

• A Framework for Analyzing Monetary Policy in an Economy with E-money

  Staff Working Paper 2019-1 Yu Zhu, Scott Hendry

  This paper considers an economy where central-bank-issued fiat money competes with privately issued e-money. We study a policy-setting game between the central bank and the e-money issuer and find (1) the optimal monetary policy of the central bank depends on the policy of the private issuer and may deviate from the Friedman rule; (2) multiple equilibria may exist; (3) when the economy approaches a cashless state, the central bank’s optimal policy improves the market power of the e-money issuer and can lead to a discrete decrease in welfare and a discrete increase in inflation; and (4) first best cannot be achieved.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Digital currencies and fintech, Monetary policy JEL Code(s): E, E5, E52