IMF Explores ICOs and Central Bank Coins in New Blockchain Note

A new research note from the IMF digs deep into blockchain, touching on topics in the technology's development both new and old.

AccessTimeIconJun 20, 2017 at 9:00 a.m. UTC
Updated Sep 11, 2021 at 1:28 p.m. UTC
10 Years of Decentralizing the Future
May 29-31, 2024 - Austin, TexasThe biggest and most established global hub for everything crypto, blockchain and Web3.Register Now

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is continuing to explore the potential of digital currencies and distributed ledger technology (DLT) .

In a staff discussion note released this week, entitled "Fintech and Financial Services: Initial Considerations", the IMF places an emphasis on two impact areas: the use of the technology for cross-border payments and its potential to be leveraged as part of a central bank-backed digital currency.

The first note published by the IMF this year, it follows in the footsteps of a similar publication issued last January. As such, this paper touches on many familiar topics and themes, including how the technology could come to bring change to financial services.

Still, while familiar topics including the impact of permissioned and permissionless versions of the technology perhaps saw the most airtime, newer concepts are touched on for the first time as well.

In particular, the IMF hints at how blockchain-based 'digital tokens' are now being used to represent securities and ownership rights through so-called initial coin offerings (ICOs), though it stops short of any formal statements on the matter.

The paper reads:

"The legal status of a digital token, and the legal effect of its transfer are not clear. For example, would the transfer of an asset-backed token (eg, representing a security) on a ledger transfer legal ownership of the security or would registration outside the ledger (eg, in a corporate share registry) still be required?"

The IMF goes on to speculate that answers to these questions would likely vary by country and jurisdiction, but that the question of how such uses of the technology will be regulated is likely to be on the minds of policymakers in the years ahead.

The discussion note was co-authored by nine IMF staff members, including Dong He, deputy director of IMF's Monetary and Capital Markets Department.

Central bank coins

Other major 2017 trends see discussion too, including the increasing activity in the sector of global central banks. Encouraged by the developments in DLT, central banks including Bank of Russia, Bank of India, and The Monetary Authority of Singapore are researching and experimenting with the possibility of a central bank-issued digital currency.

As a result, the IMF paper considers two questions regarding the prospect: "Why would a central bank want to issue a digital currency?" and "What form could such a currency take and how would it be distributed?".

Overall, there are two main reasons for issuing a central bank-backed digital currency, the paper states, the first of which is that it could improve the institution's operations.

"Introducing a CBDC may allow the central bank to perform its role in insuring an effective payments infrastructure, including the issuance of currency and the provision of a lender of last resort function, more efficiently," the paper reads.

In addition, the paper speculates that such innovations could leverage central bank networks more defensively as a means of warding off innovation:

"The introduction and potential proliferation of private virtual currencies might, in one view, threaten to erode the demand for central bank money and the transmission mechanism of monetary policy. A CBDC may forestall such private virtual currencies or relegate them to a secondary role in the payments system."

Ripe for change

Elsewhere, the paper points out that the area of cross-border payments is especially ripe for change, and could benefit from such new technologies.

It argues that the model of cross-border payments services today exhibits significant shortcomings, outlining how various stakeholders engage with consumers today. Different from domestic payments, which are settled by domestic banks and central banks, cross-border payments usually require ad-hoc arrangements, often between commercial banks.

As such, the authors argue that blockchain and DLT could bring an internet-like upheaval to how this process is conducted.

"In the age of the internet, instead, there is no distinction between a message going to a domestic or foreign recipient; both take a click. A message is a message; might a payment just be a payment in the future?" it reads.

For more, read the full report below:

IMF image via Shutterstock

Disclosure

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.


Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.