[REVIEW] A look back on the conference “Should money remain in the hands of states?”

In 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto started an innovative payment network that uses peer-to-peer technology to operate with no central authority. Bitcoin is a decentralized platform that allows online payments to be performed directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution. The whole idea behind the Bitcoin project was to end governments and banks’ money-monopoly in order to create a “sound money”.

Ten years later, Facebook announced the launch of Libra, a cryptocurrency accessible globally to its users to enhance financial inclusion and borderless digital transactions. This annoucement triggered new debates within governments and central banks, with China touting an imminent blockchain-based digital renminbi and Sweden starting a pilot for its e-krona.

The Libra announcement was the last in line of several “stablecoins” projects coming to life. Those new cryptoassets conceived to avoid the violent volatility typically associated with cryptocurrencies are now used as gateways to the decentralized financial ecosystem, while some enthusiasts see in them real competitors to fiat currencies in the digital space.

Has Bitcoin succeeded in creating a world with various types of digital money that cannot be controlled or stopped? Are decentralized currencies or stablecoins a threat for central banks and States’ sovereignty? Are Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) an opportunity for public authorities to freshen up their monetary policy toolbox and assert their authority in front of private stakeholders? What do those emerging technologies imply for financial stability, inclusion and privacy?

On March 11th 2020, the Chair organized the second session of its Blockchain cycle, entitled “Should money remain in the hands of states? From Bitcoin to Stablecoins and Central Bank Digital Currencies“. For this conference, the Chair invited Arthur Breitman (co-founder and CTO of Tezos), Arnaud Delaunay (Head of Banking services and means of payment at the French Treasury), Pierre Noizat (CEO and Co-Founder of Paymium & Blockchain.io, author of Bitcoin, mode d’emploi), and Christian Pfister (Advisor to DG Financial Stability and Operations at the Banque de France, Central Bank Digital Currency taskforce lead, professor at Sciences Po and Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne) to debate on how cryptocurrencies and especially “stablecoins” -digital assets meant to avoid volatility and keep a peg to fiat money- challenge the historical State monopoly on money.