Find Bank of Canada research by keyword, author, content type, JEL code, topic or date of publication.
Receive notification by email whenever new research is added to the website.
120
result(s)
Blockchain-Based Settlement for Asset Trading
Staff Working Paper 2018-45
Jonathan Chiu,
Thorsten Koeppl
Can securities be settled on a blockchain and, if so, what are the gains relative to existing settlement systems? We consider a blockchain that ensures delivery versus payment by linking transfers of assets with payments and operates using a proof-of-work protocol. The main benefit of a blockchain is faster and more flexible settlement, whereas the challenge is to avoid settlement fails when participants fork the chain to get rid of trading losses.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Digital currencies and fintech,
Economic models,
Financial markets,
Payment clearing and settlement systems
JEL Code(s):
G,
G2,
H,
H4,
P,
P4,
P43
Central Bank Digital Currency and Monetary Policy
Staff Working Paper 2018-36
Mohammad Davoodalhosseini
Many central banks are contemplating whether to issue central bank digital currency. This piece explores the implications as well as potential motivators of such a step.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Digital currencies and fintech,
Monetary policy
JEL Code(s):
E,
E4,
E42,
E5,
E50
Incentive Compatibility on the Blockchain
Staff Working Paper 2018-34
Jonathan Chiu,
Thorsten Koeppl
A blockchain is a digital ledger that keeps track of a record of ownership without the need for a designated party to update and enforce changes to the record. The updating of the ledger is done directly by the users of the blockchain and is traditionally governed by a proof-of-work (PoW) protocol.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Digital currencies and fintech,
Economic models,
Payment clearing and settlement systems
JEL Code(s):
G,
G2,
H,
H4,
P,
P4,
P43
A Look Inside the Box: Combining Aggregate and Marginal Distributions to Identify Joint Distributions
Staff Working Paper 2018-29
Marie-Hélène Felt
This paper proposes a method for estimating the joint distribution of two or more variables when only their marginal distributions and the distribution of their aggregates are observed. Nonparametric identification is achieved by modelling dependence using a latent common-factor structure.
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,
C14,
D,
D1,
D14,
E,
E4,
E41
Bitcoin Awareness and Usage in Canada: An Update
Staff Analytical Note 2018-23
Christopher Henry,
Kim Huynh,
Gradon Nicholls
The results of our 2017 Bitcoin Omnibus Survey (December 12 to 15, 2017) when compared with those from 2016 show that Bitcoin “awareness” increased from 64 to 85 per cent, while ownership increased from 2.9 to 5.0 per cent. Most Bitcoin purchasers are using the cryptocurrency as an investment and not as a means of payment for goods or services.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff analytical notes
Topic(s):
Bank notes,
Digital currencies and fintech,
Econometric and statistical methods
JEL Code(s):
C,
C1,
C12,
E,
E4
Swedish Riksbank Notes and Enskilda Bank Notes: Lessons for Digital Currencies
Staff Working Paper 2018-27
Ben Fung,
Scott Hendry,
Warren E. Weber
This paper examines the experience of Sweden with government notes and private bank notes to determine how well the Swedish experience corresponds to that of Canada and the United States. Sweden is important to study because it has had government notes in circulation for more than 350 years, and it had government notes before private bank notes.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff working papers
Topic(s):
Bank notes,
Digital currencies and fintech,
Financial services
JEL Code(s):
E,
E4,
E41,
E42,
E5,
E58
The Scale and Scope of Online Retail
Staff Analytical Note 2018-19
Alex Chernoff
This paper studies the growth of online retail over the period 1999–2012, using confidential firm-product-level data for Canada. The revenue of online retailers is decomposed into the contributions of product scope (the number of product categories) and product scale (average revenue per product category).
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff analytical notes
Topic(s):
Digital currencies and fintech,
Firm dynamics,
International topics
JEL Code(s):
D,
D2,
D22,
L,
L1,
L11,
L8,
L81
A Policy Framework for E-Money: A Report on Bank of Canada Research
Staff Discussion Paper 2018-5
Mohammad Davoodalhosseini,
Francisco Rivadeneyra
We present a policy framework for electronic money and payments. The framework poses a set of positive questions related to the areas of responsibility of central banks: payments systems, monetary policy and financial stability. The questions are posed to four broad forms of e-money: privately or publicly issued, and with centralized or decentralized verification of transactions. This framework is intended to help evaluate the trade-offs that central banks face in the decision to issue new forms of e-money.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff discussion papers
Topic(s):
Digital currencies and fintech,
Monetary policy,
Payment clearing and settlement systems
JEL Code(s):
E,
E4,
E41,
E5,
E51,
E52,
E58
Blockchain Revolution Without the Blockchain
Staff Analytical Note 2018-5
Hanna Halaburda
The technology behind blockchain has attracted a lot of attention. However, this technology is for the most part not well understood. There is no consensus on what benefits it may bring or on how it may fail.
Content Type(s):
Staff research,
Staff analytical notes
Topic(s):
Digital currencies and fintech,
Recent economic and financial developments,
Service sector
JEL Code(s):
D,
D8,
G,
G2,
O,
O3,
O33