IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jfinte/v1y2022i4p26-361d958522.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Retail Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC), Disintermediation and Financial Privacy: The Case of the Bahamian Sand Dollar

Author

Listed:
  • Kilian Wenker

    (Faculty of Business, Economics, and Law, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91054 Erlangen, Germany)

Abstract

The fast-growing, market-driven demand for cryptocurrencies worries central banks, as their monetary policy could be completely undermined. Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) could offer a solution, yet our understanding of their design and consequences is in its infancy. This non-technical paper examines how The Bahamas has designed the Sand Dollar, the first real-world instance of a retail CBDC. It contrasts the Sand Dollar with definition-based specifications. The author then develops a scenario analysis to illustrate commercial bank risks. In this process, the central bank becomes a deposit monopolist, leading to high funding risks, disintermediation risks, and solvency risks for the commercial banking sector. This paper argues that restrictions and caps will be the new specifications of a regulatory framework for CBDCs if disintermediation in the banking sector is to be prevented. The anonymity of CBDCs is identified as a comparative disadvantage that will affect their adoption. These findings provide insight into governance problems facing central banks and coherently lead to the design of the Sand Dollar. This paper concludes by suggesting that combating cryptocurrencies is a task that cannot be solved by a CBDC.

Suggested Citation

  • Kilian Wenker, 2022. "Retail Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC), Disintermediation and Financial Privacy: The Case of the Bahamian Sand Dollar," FinTech, MDPI, vol. 1(4), pages 1-17, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jfinte:v:1:y:2022:i:4:p:26-361:d:958522
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2674-1032/1/4/26/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2674-1032/1/4/26/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ali, Robleh & Barrdear, John & Clews, Roger & Southgate, James, 2014. "The economics of digital currencies," Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin, Bank of England, vol. 54(3), pages 276-286.
    2. Jooyong Jun & Eunjung Yeo, 2021. "Central bank digital currency, loan supply, and bank failure risk: a microeconomic approach," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 7(1), pages 1-22, December.
    3. Raphael Auer & Rainer Boehme, 2020. "The technology of retail central bank digital currency," BIS Quarterly Review, Bank for International Settlements, March.
    4. Codruta Boar & Henry Holden & Amber Wadsworth, 2020. "Impending arrival - a sequel to the survey on central bank digital currency," BIS Papers, Bank for International Settlements, number 107, October –.
    5. Walter Engert & Ben Fung, 2017. "Central Bank Digital Currency: Motivations and Implications," Discussion Papers 17-16, Bank of Canada.
    6. Wouter Bossu & Mr. Masaru Itatani & Arthur D. P. Rossi, 2020. "Legal Aspects of Central Bank Digital Currency: Central Bank and Monetary Law Considerations," IMF Working Papers 2020/254, International Monetary Fund.
    7. Klein, Benjamin, 1974. "The Competitive Supply of Money," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 6(4), pages 423-453, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Medina Ayta Mohammed & Carmen De-Pablos-Heredero & José Luis Montes Botella, 2024. "The Role of Financial Sanctions and Financial Development Factors on Central Bank Digital Currency Implementation," FinTech, MDPI, vol. 3(1), pages 1-16, February.
    2. Kjartan Sigurðsson & Grétar Þór Eyþórsson & Helga Kristjánsdóttir, 2023. "Digital Currencies, Swot Analysis," Baltic Journal of Economic Studies, Publishing house "Baltija Publishing", vol. 9(3).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Peterson K. Ozili, 2023. "Central Bank Digital Currency Can Lead to the Collapse of Cryptocurrency," Contemporary Studies in Economic and Financial Analysis, in: Digital Transformation, Strategic Resilience, Cyber Security and Risk Management, volume 111, pages 191-198, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    2. Agur, Itai & Ari, Anil & Dell’Ariccia, Giovanni, 2022. "Designing central bank digital currencies," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 62-79.
    3. Marcelo A. T. Aragão, 2021. "A Few Things You Wanted to Know about the Economics of CBDCs, but were Afraid to Model: a survey of what we can learn from who has done," Working Papers Series 554, Central Bank of Brazil, Research Department.
    4. Dionysopoulos, Lambis & Marra, Miriam & Urquhart, Andrew, 2024. "Central bank digital currencies: A critical review," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    5. Paulo Rupino Cunha & Paulo Melo & Helder Sebastião, 2021. "From Bitcoin to Central Bank Digital Currencies: Making Sense of the Digital Money Revolution," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-19, June.
    6. Peterson K. Ozili, 2022. "Central bank digital currency research around the world: a review of literature," Journal of Money Laundering Control, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 26(2), pages 215-226, January.
    7. Gronwald, Marc, 2019. "Is Bitcoin a Commodity? On price jumps, demand shocks, and certainty of supply," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 86-92.
    8. Gersbach, Hans & Böser, Florian, 2020. "Monetary Policy with a Central Bank Digital Currency: The Short and the Long Term," CEPR Discussion Papers 15322, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    9. Sally Chen & Tirupam Goel & Han Qiu & Ilhyock Shim, 2022. "CBDCs in emerging market economies," BIS Papers chapters, in: Bank for International Settlements (ed.), CBDCs in emerging market economies, volume 123, pages 1-21, Bank for International Settlements.
    10. Peterson K. Ozili, 2023. "A Survey of Central Bank Digital Currency Adoption in African Countries," Advances in African Economic, Social and Political Development, in: David Mhlanga & Emmanuel Ndhlovu (ed.), The Fourth Industrial Revolution in Africa, chapter 0, pages 273-289, Springer.
    11. Raphael A. Auer & Giulio Cornelli & Jon Frost, 2020. "Rise of the Central Bank Digital Currencies: Drivers, Approaches and Technologies," CESifo Working Paper Series 8655, CESifo.
    12. Sarah Allen & Srđjan Čapkun & Ittay Eyal & Giulia Fanti & Bryan A. Ford & James Grimmelmann & Ari Juels & Kari Kostiainen & Sarah Meiklejohn & Andrew Miller & Eswar Prasad & Karl Wüst & Fan Zhang, 2020. "Design Choices for Central Bank Digital Currency: Policy and Technical Considerations," NBER Working Papers 27634, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Sheila Dow, 2019. "Monetary Reform, Central Banks, and Digital Currencies," International Journal of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(2), pages 153-173, April.
    14. Ferry Syarifuddin & Toni Bakhtiar, 2022. "The Macroeconomic Effects of an Interest-Bearing CBDC: A DSGE Model," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-33, May.
    15. Hull, Isaiah & Sattath, Or, 2021. "Revisiting the Properties of Money," Working Paper Series 406, Sveriges Riksbank (Central Bank of Sweden).
    16. Thitima Chucherd & Chanokkarn Mek-yong & Nalin Nookhwun & Passawuth Nuntnarumit & Natta Piyakarnchana & Suparit Suwanik, 2021. "Monetary and Financial Perspectives on Retail CBDC in the Thai Context," PIER Discussion Papers 152, Puey Ungphakorn Institute for Economic Research.
    17. Cong, Lin William & Mayer, Simon, 2022. "The Coming Battle of Digital Currencies," Applied Economics and Policy Working Paper Series 320020, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.
    18. Alexandra Mitschke, 2021. "Central Bank Digital Currencies and Monetary Policy Effectiveness in the Euro Area," Working Papers Dissertations 74, Paderborn University, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics.
    19. Novi Maryaningsih & Suahasil Nazara & Febrio N. Kacaribu & Solikin M. Juhro, 2022. "Central Bank Digital Currency: What Factors Determine Its Adoption?," Bulletin of Monetary Economics and Banking, Bank Indonesia, vol. 25(1), pages 1-24, June.
    20. Kwami Ahiabenu, 2022. "A Comparative Study of the Design Frameworks of the Ghanaian and Nigerian Central Banks’ Digital Currencies (CBDC)," FinTech, MDPI, vol. 1(3), pages 1-15, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jfinte:v:1:y:2022:i:4:p:26-361:d:958522. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.