Money’s Adventures in Cryptoland

To which extent could the digitalisation of money alter its nature? In order to answer that question, the new monetary assets (stablecoins, central bank digital currency and tokenised deposits) are first described. In a second step, they are compared in order to identify whether they are more substitutable, and therefore competing, or complementary. Projects based on the use of these assets in to order impart “new functions” to money are also analysed. Finally, the potential consequences of these new assets for the international monetary system are discussed. Overall, it appears that the digitalisation of money would affect only the forms of money, and not its nature. The new monetary assets would be more complementary than substitutable, at least in the short run. The digitalisation of money could not, in itself, support a credible monetary system that would replace the existing one, be it at the domestic or at the international level.