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Banking Crises Under a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)

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  • Bitter Lea

    (European Central Bank 39459 , Frankfurt am Main, Germany)

Abstract

One of the main concerns associated with central bank digital currencies (CBDC) is the disintermediating effect on the banking sector in general, and the risk of bank runs in times of crisis in particular. This paper examines the implications of an interest-bearing CBDC on banking crises in a dynamic bank run model with a financial accelerator. The analysis distinguishes between bank failures due to illiquidity and due to insolvency. In a numerical exercise, CBDC leads to a reduction in the net worth of banks in normal times but mitigates the risk of a bank run in times of crisis. The financial stability implications also depend on how CBDC is accounted for on the asset side of the central bank balance sheet: if CBDC issuance is complemented by asset purchases, it delays the onset of both types of bank failures to larger shocks. In contrast, if CBDC issuance is complemented by loans to banks, it substantially impedes failures due to illiquidity, but only marginally affects bank failures due to insolvency.

Suggested Citation

  • Bitter Lea, 2025. "Banking Crises Under a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 245(4-5), pages 479-526.
    • Handle: RePEc:jns:jbstat:v:245:y:2025:i:4-5:p:479-526:n:1001
    DOI: 10.1515/jbnst-2023-0107
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jonathan Chiu & Seyed Mohammadreza Davoodalhosseini & Janet Jiang & Yu Zhu, 2023. "Bank Market Power and Central Bank Digital Currency: Theory and Quantitative Assessment," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 131(5), pages 1213-1248.
    2. Schilling, Linda & Fernández-Villaverde, Jesús & Uhlig, Harald, 2024. "Central bank digital currency: When price and bank stability collide," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • E42 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Monetary Sytsems; Standards; Regimes; Government and the Monetary System
    • E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies
    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages

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