Bank notes: Research and reports

Get quick access to our research papers, public consultations and surveys related to bank notes.

See also our backgrounders and explainers on bank notes.

Research papers

You can browse all our staff research on bank notes. Here's the latest:

Patterns and Determinants of Global Cryptocurrency Flows

Staff working paper 2026-15 Christian Friedrich, Laura Zhao
This paper analyzes cross-border cryptocurrency flows, focusing on Bitcoin and four major stablecoins. Using data for 162 countries, we identify the key determinants, including responses to weak economic conditions and demand for remittances. A COVID-19 case study supports these findings and emphasizes the role of cryptocurrencies in global finance.
Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers JEL Code(s): E, E4, F, F3, F32, F38, F5, F51, G, G1, G15, G2, G23 Research Theme(s): Money and payments, Digital assets and fintech

To Tokenize, or Not to Tokenize: The Design Question for a Central Bank Digital Currency

Staff working paper 2026-14 Jonathan Chiu, Cyril Monnet, Oliver Xu
This paper develops a general equilibrium model to assess central bank digital currency (CBDC) design in a monetary system where traditional banks and “crypto banks” (i.e., banks that issue stablecoins) coexist. We compare tokenized and non-tokenized CBDC, showing that their desirability depends on the reliability of private money provision, the availability of collateral assets and the features of the crypto sector.

DeFi Lending: Returns, Leverage, and Liquidation Risk

Staff analytical paper 2026-13 Jonathan Chiu, Furkan Danisman
DeFi lending with proper governance is operationally viable, but it also faces constraints related to capital efficiency, liquidation risk, and systemic fragility within the crypto ecosystem.

Public vs. Private Payment Platforms: Market Impacts and Optimal Policy

Staff working paper 2026-10 Youming Liu, Francisco Rivadeneyra, Edona Reshidi
We study the competition between a welfare-maximizing public payment platform (e.g., CBDC or fast payment system) and a profit-maximizing private platform in a two-sided market, deriving optimal public pricing and showing how network effects, fragmentation, and policy mandates like zero fees or cost recovery shape welfare, usage, and fee incidence.

Project Samara Research Paper

Staff analytical paper 2026-8 Rakesh Arora, Umar Faruqui, Scott Hendry, Dinesh Shah, André Usche
Project Samara was a real‑world experiment testing distributed ledger technology and wholesale central bank digital money for bond issuance and settlement in Canada. It demonstrated technical feasibility and potential efficiency and risk‑reduction benefits, while highlighting important trade‑offs related to complexity, governance, and regulatory alignment.

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Public consultations

Consulting Canadians on visual content is integral to our design process for new bank notes.

Principles for Bank Note Design Consultation

Read the highlights of this consultation, and see how the design principles have been applied to bank notes like these.

Surveys

The Bank regularly surveys Canadian businesses and citizens to better understand how and why cash is used by assessing awareness, attitudes, and behaviours with respect to bank notes.

Survey results allow the Bank to monitor its progress, to identify potential issues or opportunities, and to adapt its programs, tools, and services as needed.

Surveys currently underway:
  • Merchant Acceptance Survey

Bank Note Confidence Survey

The Bank of Canada supplies Canadians with bank notes they can use with confidence—notes that are readily accepted and secure against counterfeiting. To monitor and assess public confidence in the authenticity of bank notes, we survey a representative sample of 2,700 residents of Canada annually.

Methods-of-Payment Survey

The Bank of Canada surveys Canadian consumers to get a better understanding of how they pay for goods and services.

Merchant Acceptance Survey

The Merchant Acceptance Survey (MAS) helps the Bank of Canada understand trends when it comes to the methods of payment accepted by Canadian businesses.

Cash and COVID-19: What happened in 2021

Using data from the Bank Note Distribution System and consumer surveys, we find that bank notes in circulation remained high through 2021. Canadians continued to rely on electronic methods of payment, but a significant share also continued using cash for payments.

Frontiers Series: 2011–12 Awareness Survey

This survey measured Canadians’ awareness of the polymer bank notes. Respondents were asked if they recalled hearing of any upcoming changes to Canadian bank notes, and if so, where they first heard of the polymer bank notes.

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