DFC

In the rapidly evolving world of digital currencies, ISO 20022 emerges as a critical framework that could revolutionize how CBDCs communicate, ensuring seamless interoperability, robust security, and efficient cross-border transactions. By providing a flexible, standardized approach to financial messaging, ISO 20022 holds the potential to transform the global financial landscape, making digital currency exchanges as smooth as sending an email (but with monetary value attached).

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission will hold a CEO Forum of industry-leading firms to discuss the launch of the CFTC’s digital asset markets pilot program for tokenized non-cash collateral such as stablecoins. Participants will include Circle, Coinbase, Crypto.com, MoonPay and Ripple. Further information on the CEO Forum will be released once details are finalized.

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU), a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for matters related to information and communication technologies, published a report that I co-wrote on a central bank digital currency (CBDC) reference architecture. Its aim is to work towards standardizing how different CBDCs can be evaluated and compared. The report was derived from the ITU's earlier work on digital currency ontological work and is organized around the IMF's “ASAP” model that describes digital asset systems in terms of four functional layers - access, service, asset, and platform. The resulting reference architecture is based on, and informed by, recent CBDC launches, pilots and proofs of concept (i.e., it does not consider prospective future architectures).

The National Bank of Georgia (NBG) is inviting supervised entities to participate in its Regulatory Sandbox’s tokenized deposits project, the goal of which is to create a regulatory framework with the involvement of stakeholders. The country's financial ecosystem does not currently regulate the use and offering of distributed ledger technology (DLT) based deposits and certificates of deposit (CDs). This project will potentially contribute to the creation of new financial products, the diversity of the financial ecosystem, the development of a CD secondary market, greater flexibility and diversification of deposit products, and optimization of product-related costs.

The Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis will be publishing a paper by Gary Gorton and others on how stablecoins can maintain a constant price even though they face run risk and pay no interest. Stablecoin holders are compensated for stablecoin run risk because they can lend the coins to levered traders. Levered traders are willing to pay a premium to borrow stablecoins when speculative demand is strong. However, when speculative demand falls, stablecoin issuers can keep their debt trading at par only by moving to a safer portfolio or allowing redemptions. Stablecoin issuers will need to make these adjustments quickly to avoid the risk of collapse, which may cause disruptions in the markets they invest in, such as Treasuries, commercial paper, and repos. [Read more at SSRN]

[November 1, 2024] Chinese telecommunications company Huawei inegrated the digital yuan central bank digital currency (CBDC) into its HarmonyOS NEXT operating system. The integration will make the digital currency more accessible and easier to use for up to 1 billion smartphone owners. For example, users will not need to download the digital yuan app to use the CBDC. Huawei developed HarmonyOS after Google “banned” the company in 2019 due to sanctions imposed by the US government.

Cash plays an important role in the community as a means of payment, store of value and a backup to electronic payment methods. Because of this, the RBA places a high priority on Australians continuing to have reasonable access to cash services. Since 2017, the closure of bank branches and bank-owned ATMs has led to increased distances to access cash services provided by banks, particularly in regional and remote areas. However, despite the significant reduction in bank-owned cash access points since 2017, the distance that most Australians have to travel to reach the nearest cash withdrawal point has not changed markedly in recent years. This is mainly because of the strong geographic coverage of Bank@Post and independently owned ATMs. As the number of locations where people can access cash has declined, some communities are vulnerable to a further withdrawal of cash services.

Just as the invention of APIs enabled software by allowing systems to communicate and operate autonomously, stablecoins are becoming the financial APIs of artificial intelligence. APIs enable software to seamlessly exchange data and execute tasks without human intervention. Similarly, stablecoins provide the liquidity, programmability and efficiency AI agents need to exchange value and execute transactions in a fully autonomous world. Stablecoins like USDC bring instant, secure and programmable money into the workflows of AI systems. Autonomous agents, operating on behalf of individuals or businesses, rely on fast and efficient monetary systems to optimize their performance. Together, AI and stablecoins are creating a foundation for “self-driving economies,” where value moves as seamlessly as data does today.

Telematics and Informatics (TAI) published a paper on the adoption and continuance intentions of blockchain-based stablecoins for cross-border remittances. Relying on survey data from 866 U.S.-based adults engaged in remittance activities, its findings reveal that digital and financial literacy independently increase the likelihood of stablecoin adoption, while their interaction synergistically enhances predictive accuracy. Demographic analysis indicates that stablecoin remittance users tend to be younger, more educated, and involved in higher-value transactions. Among the 26% of remittance users who adopted stablecoins, continuance intentions are primarily driven by satisfaction and perceived usefulness. This points to a cyclical dynamic, where meeting user expectations leads to greater satisfaction, which in turn reinforces the perceived usefulness of stablecoins. The results underscore the importance of promoting both digital and financial literacy, improving user experience, and effectively communicating tangible benefits to encourage the continued adoption of stablecoins for remittance transactions.

The Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) published an update on its central bank digital currency (CBDC) project launched in 2020 with proof-of-concept studies. The first phase, culminating in a pilot, was completed at the end of 2023. During Phase-2, beyond ongoing R&D activities, the legal, economic and security dimensions of the digital lira are being comprehensively addressed.

The global evolution of payments is changing the payments landscape of Trinidad and Tobago. The Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago has seen new players offering new payment services and products. These new products and services, supported by fintech solutions, create new risks to the domestic payment systems that require management and control. The Bank has therefore embarked on a strategy to modernize Trinidad and Tobago’s National Payment System by 1) developing comprehensive payment systems legislation, 2) enhancing its engagement with fintechs, and 3) examining cross-border payment activity consistent with the Financial Stability Board’s (FSB) Recommendations.

Globally, stablecoins are gaining momentum as both a medium of exchange and a store of value, addressing gaps left by traditional currencies — particularly in regions with monetary instability and/or limited access to the U.S. dollar (USD). Businesses, financial institutions (FIs), and individuals are leveraging stablecoins for use cases ranging from international payments, to liquidity management, to protection against currency fluctuations. The ability to facilitate swifter, more cost-effective transactions compared to those of traditional financial systems has accelerated the adoption of stablecoins across the world.

The University of Manchester published a Fintech white paper that provides insights that can influence policy and design for a successful Digital Pound implementation. Whilst the initial findings suggest that consumers may quickly understand the concept of a digital pound, it seems unlikely that the perceived usefulness of new CBDC use cases alone will drive widespread adoption. Instead, successful adoption will likely depend on the perceived ease of use of the Digital Pound, which can be achieved through effective consumer experience design and seamless integration into existing financial ecosystems, encouraged by nuanced government incentivization policies.

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) published a paper on how technology can enhance privacy in digital payment systems. It classifies privacy-enhancing designs along the dimensions of privacy versus auditability, and soft institution- versus hard technology-based solutions. It maps existing technologies into this taxonomy and assesses them. Sophisticated techniques allow having both hard privacy and limited transparency by employing hard-coded rules that dictate which data remains inaccessible. On balance, there is promise in novel concepts like zero-knowledge-proofs, but current technologies suffer from security and computational capacity limitations in.

Stablecoins are of vital importance to next-generation financial services because they provide genuine competition to the payment systems of today, even in the US where the otherwise innovative financial system lags much of the world. American payment cards and banking apps work fine and give a safe and reliable service to customers, but the system is slow and expensive with costs rather unevenly distributed towards the less well off (who pay a lot to use what little money they have). More competition would be good for everyone.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta published an article on the growing use of stablecoins. It points to retailers like Overstock, Chipotle, Whole Foods, and GameStop now accepting them, Stripe enabling merchants to accept USD Coin (USDC). Regal Cinemas offering a 10% discount on tickets and concessions for USDC payments, and Travala letting users book travel services with USDC or USDT. Benefits to merchants include reduced transaction fees, immediate settlement, and attracting crypto-savvy customers. However, the article points to concerns over the stability of the assets backing them, regulatory uncertainty, and security vulnerabilities like cyberattacks, and stablecoins used in decentralized finance platforms facing risks such as smart contract failures and liquidity issues.

Cointelegraph published an article on the slim prospects for U.S. retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) issuance, now that Donald Trump has been sworn in as President, that includes some words of wisdom from yours truly.