The Future of Money: Central Bank Issued Electronic Money

Abstract

The modern day society driven by a variety of electronic devices and high-speed internet is changing its perception and practice of paper currency, mode of economic and financial transactions, and so on. The usage of cash is increasingly reducing because of the ease of payments facilitated by cards, mobile phone apps and contact-less chips, online payment systems, etc. Furthermore, cryptotokens (cryptocurrencies), such as bitcoin, have fueled the interest of society and policymakers in investigating the usefulness and limitations of a central bank-backed electronic fiat currency. Also, blockchain/distributed ledger technology, the technology enabling the cryptotokens, has gained a lot of attention from almost all the sections of the society for its ability in providing a decentralized transaction verification process while maintaining the features similar to the traditional cash currency. This chapter presents an overview of the concepts and potential features, potential primary models of issuing electronic fiat currency, as well as the key design principles from a technical perspective and a high-level architecture of a central bank-backed electronic fiat currency. We present the key aspects of currency in modern society, the advancements in the field of financial technologies and how could these be harnessed to launch a central bank-backed electronic fiat currency. We also discuss the position of various central banks and governments on cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology, and the initiatives related to issuing electronic fiat currency.