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Competing digital monies

Author

Listed:
  • Jon Frost
  • Jean-Charles Rochet
  • Hyun Song Shin
  • Marianne Verdier

Abstract

We compare three competing digital payment instruments: bank deposits, digital platform tokens and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). A simple theoretical model integrates the theory of two-sided markets and payment economics. We use the model to assess the impact of a public option such as a fast payment system that makes private payment instruments interoperable, or a CBDC that provides general access to public digital money. We show that both options are essentially equivalent for the industrial organisation of the payment system. We find that, even if they may lead to some degree of disintermediation, both options can contribute to increasing financial inclusion and improving social welfare.

Suggested Citation

  • Jon Frost & Jean-Charles Rochet & Hyun Song Shin & Marianne Verdier, 2025. "Competing digital monies," BIS Working Papers 1301, Bank for International Settlements.
    • Handle: RePEc:bis:biswps:1301
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Helmut Elsinger & Helmut Stix & Martin Summer, 2025. "Consumer preferences for a digital euro: insights from a discrete choice experiment in Austria," BIS Working Papers 1302, Bank for International Settlements.

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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
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives

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