O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth

• Private Digital Cryptoassets as Investment? Bitcoin Ownership and Use in Canada, 2016-2021

  Staff Working Paper 2022-44 Daniela Balutel, Walter Engert, Christopher Henry, Kim Huynh, Marcel Voia

  We report on the dynamics of Bitcoin awareness and ownership from 2016 to 2021, using the Bank of Canada's Bitcoin Omnibus Surveys (BTCOS). Our analysis also helps understand Bitcoin owners who adopted during the COVID-19 and how they differ from long-term owners. 

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Bank notes, Digital currencies and fintech, Econometric and statistical methods JEL Code(s): C, C1, C12, E, E4, O, O5, O51
• October 12, 2022

  Five things we learned about Canadian Bitcoin owners in 2021

  Daniela Balutel, Walter Engert, Christopher Henry, Kim Huynh, Marcel Voia

  We present key findings from the 2021 Bitcoin Omnibus Survey on Canadians’ awareness and ownership of Bitcoin. Most Canadians have heard of Bitcoin, which remains primarily used as an investment. Ownership jumped in 2021, reflecting increased savings during the pandemic and greater availability of user-friendly platforms to buy Bitcoin.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Financial System Hub articles JEL Code(s): C, C1, C12, E, E4, O, O5, O51

• Archetypes for a retail CBDC

  Staff Analytical Note 2022-14 Sriram Darbha

  A variety of technology designs could support retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) systems. We develop five archetypes of CBDC systems, outline their characteristics and discuss their trade-offs. This work serves as a framework to analyze and compare different designs, independent of vendor, platform and implementation.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Central bank research, Digital currencies and fintech JEL Code(s): E, E4, E42, E5, E51, O, O3

• Cash, COVID-19 and the Prospects for a Canadian Digital Dollar

  Staff Discussion Paper 2022-17 Walter Engert, Kim Huynh

  We provide an analysis of cash trends in Canada before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also consider the potential two scenarios for issuance of a central bank digital currency in Canada: the emergence of a cashless society or the widespread use of an alternative digital currency in Canada. Finally, we discuss the Canadian experience in maintaining cash as an efficient and accessible method of payment and store of value.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Bank notes, Central bank research, Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Digital currencies and fintech, Econometric and statistical methods JEL Code(s): C, C1, C12, C9, E, E4, O, O5, O54

• Canadians’ Access to Cash Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

  Staff Discussion Paper 2022-15 Heng Chen, Marie-Hélène Felt

  This paper studies Canadians’ access to cash using the geographical distribution of automated banking machines (ABMs). During the pandemic, there have been no sustained adverse effects on cash accessibility.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Financial services, Regional economic developments JEL Code(s): J, J1, J15, O, O1, R, R5, R51

• Cash in the Pocket, Cash in the Cloud: Cash Holdings of Bitcoin Owners

  Staff Working Paper 2022-26 Daniela Balutel, Christopher Henry, Kim Huynh, Marcel Voia

  We estimate the effect that owning Bitcoin has on the amount of cash held by Canadian consumers. Our results question the view that adopting certain new technologies, such as Bitcoin, leads to a decline in cash holdings.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Bank notes, Digital currencies and fintech, Econometric and statistical methods JEL Code(s): C, C1, C12, E, E4, O, O3, O33, O5, O51

• Resilience of bank liquidity ratios in the presence of a central bank digital currency

  Staff Analytical Note 2022-5 Alissa Gorelova, Bena Lands, Maria teNyenhuis

  Could Canadian banks continue to meet their regulatory liquidity requirements after the introduction of a cash-like retail central bank digital currency (CBDC)? We conduct a hypothetical exercise to estimate how a CBDC could affect bank liquidity by increasing the run-off rates of transactional retail deposits under four increasingly severe scenarios.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Central bank research, Digital currencies and fintech, Econometric and statistical methods, Financial institutions, Financial stability JEL Code(s): C, E, E4, G, G2, G21, O, O3, O33

• Bitcoin Awareness, Ownership and Use: 2016–20

  Staff Discussion Paper 2022-10 Daniela Balutel, Marie-Hélène Felt, Gradon Nicholls, Marcel Voia

  In this paper, we examine trends in Canadian ownership of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies from 2016 to 2020 using data from surveys conducted by the Bank of Canada.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Bank notes, Digital currencies and fintech, Econometric and statistical methods JEL Code(s): C, C1, C12, E, E4, O, O5, O51

• Cash and COVID-19: What happened in 2021

  Staff Discussion Paper 2022-8 Heng Chen, Walter Engert, Kim Huynh, Daneal O’Habib, Joy Wu, Julia Zhu

  Using data from the Bank Note Distribution System and consumer surveys, we find that bank notes in circulation remained high through 2021. Canadians continued to rely on electronic methods of payment, but a significant share also continued using cash for payments.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Bank notes, Central bank research, Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Digital currencies and fintech, Econometric and statistical methods JEL Code(s): C, C1, C12, C9, E, E4, O, O5, O54

• Assessing global potential output growth and the US neutral rate: April 2022

  Staff Analytical Note 2022-4 Kyle Boutilier, Thomas J. Carter, Xin Scott Chen, Eshini Ekanayake, Louis Poirier, Peter Shannon, Akash Uppal, Lin Xiang

  We expect global potential output growth to increase from 2.7% in 2021 to 2.9% by 2024. Compared with the April 2021 assessment, global potential output growth is marginally slower. The current range for the US neutral rate is 2% to 3%, 0.25 percentage points higher than staff’s last assessment.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Topic(s): Interest rates, Monetary policy, Potential output, Productivity JEL Code(s): E, E1, E2, E4, E5, F, F0, O, O4