Nations around the world are conducting research into the design of central bank digital currency (CBDC), a new, digital form of money that would be issued by central banks alongside cash and central bank reserves. Retail CBDC would be used by individuals and businesses as form of money suitable for routine commerce. An important motivating factor in the development of retail CBDC is the decline of the popularity of central bank money for retail purchases and the increasing use of digital money created by the private sector for such purposes. The debate about how retail CBDC would be designed and implemented has led to many proposals, which have sparked considerable debate about business models, regulatory frameworks, and the socio-technical role of money in general. Here, we present a critical analysis of the existing proposals. We examine their motivations and themes, as well as their underlying assumptions. We also offer a reflection of the opportunity that retail CBDC represents and suggest a way forward in furtherance of the public interest.
If ordinary citizens cannot own their own money, then what canthey own?
We'll also address key questions about design requirements for digital wallets, ongoing political fights around novel payment technologies and cross-border trade, and the question of what it takes for individuals and businesses to hold money outside of a bank account in the 21st century.
Speaker
Dr. Geoff Goodell is a lecturer in financial computing at University College London whose work focuses onsocio-technical systems in financial services. He leads the UCL Future of MoneyInitiative and is an associate of the Systemic Risk Centre at the London Schoolof Economics.
He leads several ISO working groups related to blockchain systems and digital currencies. He has a decade of experience in the financial industry as a strategist and portfolio manager, having served as Partner and Chief Investment Officer of a boutique asset management firm based in Boston, where he led the design, implementation, and management of investment strategies in systematic macro trading and statistical arbitrage. Previously, he was an associate in the corporate credit and structured products groups at Goldman Sachs in New York.
Dr. Goodell's research concerns the interface between computer science, finance, and public policy in areas related to digital currency, digital payment systems, and regulation.
Join us for the second in our ZIBR public talk series when we move from DeSci to DeFi in an insightful discussion at the crossroads of retaildigital currencies, CBDC, and monetary policy — and continue the conversationduring the networking session.
