Digitalization is reshaping economic activity, shrinking the role of cash, and spurring new digital forms of money. Central banks have been pondering wheter and how to adapt. One possibility is central bank digital currency (CBDC)-- a widely accessible digital form of fiat money that could be legal tender. This discussion note proposes a conceptual framework to assess the case for CBDC adoption from the perspective of users and central banks. It discusses possible CBDC designs, and explore...

A new wave of technological innovations, often called “fintech,” is accelerating change in the financial sector. What impact might fintech have on financial services, and how should regulation respond? This paper sets out an economic framework for thinking through the channels by which fintech might provide solutions that respond to consumer needs for trust, security, privacy, and better services, change the competitive landscape, and affect regulation. It combines a broad discussion of tr...

Wolfgang Knoll is a former Directory of Polymer research at the Max Planck Institute. He is extremely well know for his research in this area. Zouheir Sekkat was a Postdoctoral researcher at Max Planck working under Professor Knoll. With Knoll's involvement, we can be confident that the best people in this field will be contributing to the reference.