First Project mCBDC Bridge Pilot Complete

Project mBridge is a prototype real-time cross-border payments platform based distributed ledger technology (DLT) and multiple central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) developed by the Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub and four central banks. The first pilot is now complete, with over $12 million in value issued onto the platform facilitating over 160 cross-border payments and FX transactions totaling more than $22 million in value between 20 participating commercial banks over the course of a month. A detailed report will be released in October. [Read more on LinkedIn]

Central Bank Digital Currency: Financial Inclusion vs. Disintermediation

The Dallas Fed published a working paper that analyzes the impact of introducing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) on financial inclusion, and its potential adverse effect on bank funding. The paper highlights the role of two design parameters: the fixed cost of CBDC usage and the interest rate it pays, and derive principles for maximum inclusion and for mitigating the inclusion-intermediation trade-off. Agents’ choice of money instrument is endogenously driven by income heterogeneity. Pre-CBDC, wealthier agents adopt deposits, while poorer agents adopt cash and remain unbanked. CBDCs with low fixed costs (and low interest rates) are adopted by cash holders and directly increase inclusion. CBDCs with high fixed costs (and high interest rates) are adopted by deposit holders and increase inclusion by raising deposit rates. The former allows for more favorable inclusion-intermediation trade-offs. [Read more at the Dallas Fed]

 

Regulating the crypto ecosystem: The case of unbacked crypto assets

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) published a Fintech Note that recommends that global bodies work to develop common crypto-asset taxonomies that can inform global and cross-sectoral standards while improving data insights. Standards should be risk-based, with greater requirements on entities and activities that generate more risk. Crypto asset service providers that deliver core functions and generate key risks should be licensed, registered, or authorized. [Read more at the IMF]

Regulating the crypto ecosystem: The case of stablecoins

The IMF published a Fintech Note that provides key elements that should feature in any stablecoin regulatory arrangement. Global regulation for stablecoins should be comprehensive, consistent, risk-based, flexible, and focus on their structural features and use. Requirements on stablecoins should cover the entire ecosystem and all its key functions, and there should be additional oversight for systemic stablecoin arrangements. In markets where risks are growing quickly, authorities should take immediate action by using all the tools at their disposal. For effective implementation, domestic and international collaboration are key. [Read more at the IMF]

Distributed ledger technology (DLT) options for CBDC

The Swiss National Bank’s Thomas Moser was one of the authors of a paper on the options for designing CBDCs using distributed ledger technology (DLT). It analyzes the various structures for implementation offered by DLT – public, permissioned and private – and the implications that each has for the central bank and the existing financial system. While a CBDC built on an open, permissionless system would provide the full functionality offered by DLT, it is also far more disruptive to the existing financial system and consequently requires more new infrastructure on the part of the central bank. Within the current DLT landscape, public-private partnerships offer the most practical and efficient means of building a DLT-based CBDC. A selection of existing DLT providers able to support a CBDC is also discussed. [Read more at SSRN]

The impact of fintech lending on credit access for U.S. small businesses

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) published a working paper that explores the characteristics of pre-pandemic (2016-2019) small business lending (SBL) in the United States, using proprietary loan-level data from two fintech SBL platforms (Funding Circle and LendingClub). The results show that fintech SBL platforms lent more in zip codes with higher unemployment rates and higher business bankruptcy filings. Moreover, fintech platforms’ internal credit scores were able to predict future loan performance more accurately than the traditional approach to credit scoring, particularly in areas with high unemployment. Overall, fintech lenders have a potential to create a more inclusive financial system, allowing small businesses that were less likely to receive credit through traditional lenders to access credit and to do so at lower cost. [Read more at the BIS]

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.