Can introducing Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) improve social welfare? We construct a dual currency model to study whether introducing CBDC with a record- keeping technology can reduce tax evasion incentives, and further achieve a better al- location than in a cash-only economy. In our...

This paper explores the interface between central banks and cryptocurrencies. Focusing on the European Central Bank (ECB), it identifies the potential threats that the rise of cryptocurrencies would pose to the basic and ancillary tasks of the ECB, in particular, its monetary policy operations...

Breakthroughs in financial technology (fintech), ranging from early coins and banknotes to card payments, e-money, mobile payments, and more recently, cryptocurrencies portend transformative changes to the financial and monetary systems. Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrencies bear a significant...

We provide evidence on the estimated effects of digital euro news on bank valuations and lending and find that they depend on deposit reliance and design features aimed at calibrating the quantity of CBDC. Then, we develop a quantitative DSGE model that replicates such evidence and incorporates...

There are currently notable innovations emerging from Central Banks across the world, from the focus on climate change, resilient recovery and technological innovations. In the current Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), the emergence of technology-driven innovations in the work of Central Banks...

Central banks around the world are increasingly exploring central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). This paper investigates the possible impacts of cross-border CBDCs on capital flows and financial stability in a simple open economy extension of a classical model of bank runs, augmented with the...

This paper analyses the effects of an introduction of a retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) on bank intermediation in a tractable general equilibrium model with heterogeneous bank deposits and an imperfectly competitive loan market. The agents in the economy have preferences over holding...

Written Testimony of Lev Menand for the hearing entitled "Building a Stronger Financial System: Opportunities for a Central Bank Digital Currency" before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Subcommittee on Economic Policy

Cryptocurrencies have become popular. Economic agents use cryptocurrencies such as bitcoins to make payments. They pose a threat to fiat currency. Central banks have begun to respond to this threat. They realize that they need to join the race to offer a digital currency and dominate the digital...

There are increasingly many digital alternatives to physical cash as basic means of payment, many of these offered by non-financial private sector actors. While such a trend towards a cashless society brings the convenience of digital payments to users and can encourage innovation in financial...