BIS Innovation Center at the NY Fed is looking into wholesale CBDC
Project Cedar, which is being run out of the BIS Innovation Center at the New York Fed, is looking into wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) from a research standpoint. It’s led by Per von Zelowitz, and what they’re trying to do, according to the Boston Fed’s Robert Bench, is “understand what are the requirements, or what are the things they need to think about, for the obligations of New York, which is the world’s leading capital market center?” Thanks to the Atlantic Council’s Josh Lipsky for bringing this to my attention. [Read more at the Atlanta Fed]
Bullet train: New tokens and platforms may transform cross-border payments
A few weeks ago the IMF’s Finance & Development magazine published an article by Tobias Adrian and Tommaso Mancini-Griffoli that pitched the idea of a multi wholesale CBDC platform to achieve greater cross border payment efficiencies. The IMF will soon publish two papers on these topics that will lay out an initial blueprint for such platforms. This concept is also being pursued by the BIS Innovation Hub Hong Kong Centre’s Project mCBDC Bridge, along with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Bank of Thailand, People’s Bank of China and Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates. [Read more at the IMF]
Central Bank Digital Currencies – The Quest for Public Digital Payment Infrastructures
This paper by Xavier Lavayssière summarizes the many considerations that go into the decision as to whether a central bank should issue CBDC and the many design dimensions. The decision-making process raises fundamental questions about the functions of central banks, the roles of the public and private sectors, technological design and international monetary competition that will be defining for the payment industry, economic development and sovereignty. [Download at Blockchain@X]
The Demand for Programmable Payments
This paper Charles Kahn and Maarten van Oordt studies the desirability of programmable payments where transfers are automatically executed conditional upon preset objective criteria. They do so in a framework that captures a wide range of economic relationships between two parties, in an environment without legal recourse. They find that optimal payment arrangements for long-term economic relationships consist predominantly of simple direct payments. Programmable payments will be desirable, and may in fact be the only viable payment arrangement, in situations where economic relationships are of a short duration. [Read more at SSRN]
Tickets available for CBDC Think Tank masterclass
The CBDC Think Tank, in partnership with the IMF and George Washington University, is hosting a full-day in-person CBDC Masterclass on October 12 in Washington DC for “official sector” staff and academics active in the CBDC / digital currency space only. The sessions are designed as instructional deep dives with full presentations and Q&A components. Tickets are $99. [Register here]
Also, the CBDC Think Tank, in partnership with Georgetown University and the DC FinTech Week, is hosting a FREE (also in-person) Digital Currency Lecture Series, a set of digital currency lightning talks delivered by subject matter experts, on October 14 in Washington DC. [Request an invite here]
Kiffmeister’s Global Central Bank Digital Currency Monthly Monitor
Just a reminder that I produce a monthly digest of central bank digital currency (CBDC) developments exclusively for the official sector. So for any of you out there who work for a central bank, ministry of finance or international financial institution who would like to receive it by email on the first business day of every month, please DM me on LinkedIn or email me at chronicles@kiffmeister.com.
