E51 - Money Supply; Credit; Money Multipliers

• A Retail CBDC Design for Basic Payments: Feasibility Study

  Staff Discussion Paper 2025-9 Sriram Darbha, Cyrus Minwalla, Rakesh Arora, Dinesh Shah

  We outline possible system architectures for an online retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) and identify one well-suited for basic payments. We analyze OpenCBDC 2PC, a representative system, finding such designs to be feasible, although some areas require further investigation. Our framing highlights other promising architectures for a retail CBDC.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Research Topic(s): Central bank research, Digital currencies and fintech JEL Code(s): E, E4, E42, E5, E51, O, O3

• Analysis of DeFi Oracles

  Staff Discussion Paper 2024-10 Xun Deng, Sidi Mohamed Beillahi, Cyrus Minwalla, Han Du, Andreas Veneris, Fan Long

  Oracles are constructs used in decentralized finance to price assets relative to each other. However, oracles contain defects that could lead to manipulation attacks. Such attacks exploit pricing models embedded within oracles to defraud creators and users. We automatically verify defects, which if mitigated, improves the security of digital currency.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff discussion papers Research Topic(s): Central bank research, Digital currencies and fintech, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): E, E4, E42, E5, E51, G, G1, G15, O, O3, O31

• A central bank digital currency for offline payments

  Staff Analytical Note 2023-2 Cyrus Minwalla, John Miedema, Sebastian Hernandez, Alexandra Sutton-Lalani

  Offline functionality is a key consideration for a potential CBDC. We describe the different types of offline functionality based on their duration outside of network connection—either intermittent (for short periods) or extended (for longer periods). We discuss the advantages and drawbacks of each and consider implications for end-user devices, system resilience and universal accessibility.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Research Topic(s): Central bank research, Digital currencies and fintech JEL Code(s): E, E4, E42, E5, E51, E58, O, O3, O31

• Archetypes for a retail CBDC

  Staff Analytical Note 2022-14 Sriram Darbha

  A variety of technology designs could support retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) systems. We develop five archetypes of CBDC systems, outline their characteristics and discuss their trade-offs. This work serves as a framework to analyze and compare different designs, independent of vendor, platform and implementation.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Research Topic(s): Central bank research, Digital currencies and fintech JEL Code(s): E, E4, E42, E5, E51, O, O3

• How does the Bank of Canada’s balance sheet impact the banking system?

  Staff Analytical Note 2022-12 Daniel Bolduc-Zuluaga, Brad Howell, Grahame Johnson

  We examine how changes in the Bank of Canada’s balance sheet impact the banking system. Quantitative easing contributed to an increase in the size of the banking system’s balance sheet and an improvement in bank liquidity coverage ratios. Quantitative tightening is expected to partially reverse these impacts. The banking system will have to adjust its liquidity management strategy in response.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Research Topic(s): Financial institutions, Financial stability, Monetary policy JEL Code(s): E, E5, E51, G, G2, G21, G23, G3, G32

• Financial Intermediaries and the Macroeconomy: Evidence from a High-Frequency Identification

  Staff Working Paper 2022-24 Pablo Ottonello, Wenting Song

  We provide empirical evidence of effects to the aggregate economy from surprises about financial intermediaries’ net worth based on a high-frequency identification strategy. We estimate that news of a 1% decline in intermediaries’ net worth leads to a 0.2%–0.4% decrease in the market value of nonfinancial firms.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Asset pricing, Business fluctuations and cycles, Credit and credit aggregates, Financial institutions, Financial markets, Financial system regulation and policies, Monetary and financial indicators JEL Code(s): E, E3, E32, E4, E44, E5, E51, G, G0, G01, G1, G12, G2, G21, G23, G24, G3, G32

• Behaviour in the Canadian large-value payment system: COVID-19 vs. the global financial crisis

  Staff Analytical Note 2021-7 Alexander Chaudhry, Anneke Kosse, Karen Sondergard

  Unlike the 2008–09 global financial crisis, the onset of the COVID-19 crisis did not raise stress levels in Canada’s Large Value Transfer System. Swift changes to the Bank of Canada’s collateral policy and its large-scale asset purchase programs likely eased liquidity pressures in the system.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Research Topic(s): Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Financial institutions, Financial stability, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): E, E4, E42, E5, E51, E58, E6, E65

• Eggs in One Basket: Security and Convenience of Digital Currencies

  Staff Working Paper 2021-6 Charles M. Kahn, Francisco Rivadeneyra, Tsz-Nga Wong

  Digital currencies store balances in anonymous electronic addresses. This paper analyzes the trade-offs between the safety and convenience of aggregating balances in addresses, electronic wallets and banks.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Central bank research, Digital currencies and fintech, Financial services, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): E, E4, E42, E5, E51, E58

• Survival Analysis of Bank Note Circulation: Fitness, Network Structure and Machine Learning

  Staff Working Paper 2020-33 Diego Rojas, Juan Estrada, Kim Huynh, David T. Jacho-Chávez

  Using the Bank of Canada's Currency Information Management Strategy, we analyze the network structure traced by a bank note’s travel in circulation and find that the denomination of the bank note is important in our potential understanding of the demand and use of cash.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Research Topic(s): Bank notes, Econometric and statistical methods, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): C, C5, C52, C6, C65, C8, C81, E, E4, E42, E5, E51

• Security of a CBDC

  Staff Analytical Note 2020-11 Cyrus Minwalla

  Security is an important element in ensuring public confidence in a central bank digital currency (CBDC). This note highlights the required security properties of a CBDC system and the challenges encountered with existing solutions, should the Bank of Canada choose to issue one.

  Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff analytical notes Research Topic(s): Central bank research, Digital currencies and fintech JEL Code(s): E, E4, E42, E5, E51, O, O3, O31