Digital currencies and fintech

• December 14, 2017

  Three Things Keeping Me Awake at Night

  Remarks Stephen S. Poloz Canadian Club Toronto Toronto, Ontario

  Governor Stephen S. Poloz discusses his long-term economic preoccupations now that the Canadian economy has nearly completed its journey home.

  Content Type(s): Press, Speeches and appearances, Remarks Topic(s): Digital currencies and fintech, Financial stability, Housing, Monetary policy, Payment clearing and settlement systems, Potential output

• Bitcoin Awareness and Usage in Canada

  Staff Working Paper 2017-56 Christopher Henry, Kim Huynh, Gradon Nicholls

  There has been tremendous discussion of Bitcoin, digital currencies and FinTech. However, there is limited empirical evidence of Bitcoin’s adoption and usage. We propose a methodology to collect a nationally representative sample using the Bitcoin Omnibus Survey (BTCOS) to track the ubiquity and usage of Bitcoin in Canada.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Bank notes, Digital currencies and fintech, Econometric and statistical methods JEL Code(s): C, C1, C12, E, E4

• Competing Currencies in the Laboratory

  Staff Working Paper 2017-53 Janet Hua Jiang, Cathy Zhang

  We investigate competition between two intrinsically worthless currencies as a result of decentralized interactions between human subjects. We design a laboratory experiment based on a simple two-country, two-currency search model to study factors that affect circulation patterns and equilibrium selection.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Central bank research, Digital currencies and fintech JEL Code(s): C, C9, C92, D, D8, D83, E, E4, E40

• Central Bank Digital Currency: Motivations and Implications

  Staff Discussion Paper 2017-16 Walter Engert, Ben Fung

  The emergence of digital currencies such as Bitcoin and the underlying blockchain and distribution ledger technology have attracted significant attention. These developments have raised the possibility of considerable impacts on the financial system and perhaps the wider economy.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Bank notes, Digital currencies and fintech, Financial services, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): E, E4, E41, E42, E5
• November 16, 2017

  Acceptance and Use of Payments at the Point of Sale in Canada

  Bank of Canada Review - Autumn 2017 Ben Fung, Kim Huynh, Anneke Kosse

  Merchants universally accept cash. Consumers widely hold cash but also carry debit and credit cards. The cost of using a method of payment has only a small influence on which method consumers use. Large merchants accept all payments, while only two-thirds of small and medium-sized businesses accept credit cards. Merchants report that credit cards are the costliest payment method compared with cash and debit cards. However, costs are not the only consideration. Merchant acceptance of credit accounts for the many con-sumers that want to use credit cards. This interaction between consumers and merchants is known as network externalities.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Bank notes, Digital currencies and fintech, Financial institutions, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): D, D2, D23, D24, E, E4, E41, E42, G, G2, G21, L, L2
• October 17, 2017

  Payments Canada, Bank of Canada and TMX Group announce integrated securities and payment platform as next phase of Project Jasper

  This joint press release announces a new collaboration between Payments Canada, the Bank of Canada and TMX Group as part of the third phase of the Project Jasper research initiative.

  Content Type(s): Press, Press releases Topic(s): Digital currencies and fintech

• Fintech: Is This Time Different? A Framework for Assessing Risks and Opportunities for Central Banks

  Staff Discussion Paper 2017-10 Meyer Aaron, Francisco Rivadeneyra, Samantha Sohal

  We investigate the risks and opportunities to the mandates of central banks arising from fintech developments.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Topic(s): Central bank research, Digital currencies and fintech, Financial institutions, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): E, E4, E42, G, G1, G2, L, L1

• Adoption of a New Payment Method: Theory and Experimental Evidence

  Staff Working Paper 2017-28 Jasmina Arifovic, John Duffy, Janet Hua Jiang

  We model the introduction of a new payment method, e.g., e-money, that competes with an existing payment method, e.g., cash. The new payment method involves relatively lower per-transaction costs for both buyers and sellers, but sellers must pay a fixed fee to accept the new payment method.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Central bank research, Digital currencies and fintech JEL Code(s): C, C3, C35, C8, C83, C9, C92, E, E4, E41
• June 27, 2017

  FSB issues a report on the financial stability implications from FinTech

  This FSB press release announces that a working group chaired by Bank of Canada Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn A. Wilkins published a report analyzing the potential financial stability implications of fintech.

  Content Type(s): Press, Press releases Topic(s): Digital currencies and fintech
• May 25, 2017

  Project Jasper: Are Distributed Wholesale Payment Systems Feasible Yet?

  Financial System Review - June 2017 James Chapman, Rodney J. Garratt, Scott Hendry, Andrew McCormack, Wade McMahon

  This report describes a joint endeavour between public and private sectors to explore a wholesale payment system based on distributed ledger technology (DLT). They find that a stand-alone DLT system is unlikely to be as beneficial as a centralized payment system in terms of core operating costs; however, it could increase financial system efficiency as a result of integration with the broader financial market infrastructure.

  Content Type(s): Publications, Financial System Review articles Topic(s): Digital currencies and fintech, Financial system regulation and policies, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): E, E4, E42, E5, E58, G, G2, G28