Measuring Stablecoin, Crypto and Decentralised Finance Ecosystems (BIS)
A BIS paper by Aerts, Heijmans, Paulick, and Vuletic concludes that widely used indicators of crypto-asset and decentralized finance (DeFi) activity are highly dependent on methodological choices, rendering them noisy approximations rather than direct economic measures. Although blockchain data is transparent, underlying protocol complexities obscure true economic signals. Bitcoin’s transaction model conflates actual transfers with technical change outputs, drastically altering volume estimates based on applied heuristics. Similarly, programmable smart contracts on Ethereum generate spurious activity that complicates reliable classification. The text highlights severe data heterogeneity across blockchains, demonstrating that identical stablecoins fulfill distinct economic functions on different infrastructures. Consequently, accurately assessing DeFi dynamics demands bounded estimates and rigorous technical disaggregation rather than naive data aggregation. [BIS]
CertiK and the NBKR Partner in Digital Som Security (CertiK)
CertiK, a US-based firm specializing in blockchain security and smart contract auditing, announced that it had entered into a memorandum of understanding with the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic (NBKR) focused on technical security assessments, continuous monitoring, and financial integrity regulatory advisory for the Digital Som central bank digital currency (CBDC) project and broader virtual-asset oversight. However, the arrangement is purely an exploratory framework for dialogue, and it commits to no software deployment or procurement award. [CertiK]
BTW if you want to see a complete database of my DFC-related posts going back years, including many that didn’t make the Daily Digest cut, click here.
FYI I produce a monthly digest of digital fiat currency (DFC) developments exclusively for the official sector (e.g., central banks, ministries of finance and international financial institution (e.g., the BIS, IMF, OECD, World Bank)) plus academics and firms that are active in the DFC space (commercial banks, technology providers, consultants, etc.). (DFCs include central bank digital currency (CBDC), stablecoins and tokenized deposits.) It goes out via email on the first business day of every month, and if you’re interested in being on the mailing list, please email me at john@kiffmeister.com.
