Abstract

How will general purpose central bank digital currencies and private digital currencies change financial services?

・What are the debates surrounding general purpose central bank digital currencies (CBDCs)?
・What are the characteristics of the notable changes in payment and settlement services that have occurred in recent years?
・What will payments and settlements using digital currencies look like in the future?

This book examines the changes in payment and settlement services in Japan and their background, and then considers the future roles that digital currencies issued by private operators and general purpose CBDCs issued by central banks will play, complementing each other. It clarifies the benefits and challenges from the perspectives of the main users of payment and settlement services—individuals, stores, businesses, governments, and local governments—and the main providers—banks, businesses, and money transfer services—as well as the challenges that will arise for governments and central banks and explains possible responses.

Author’s Information

He graduated from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Tokyo in 1985 and joined the Bank of Japan. He studied abroad at Yale University in the United States and earned a Master's degree in Economics in 1992. After returning to the Bank of Japan, he served as a monitor of the international operations of Japanese banks, secretary to then Deputy Governor Fukui Toshihiko, staff member to then Policy Board Member Ueda Kazuo, and counselor (international financial and foreign exchange markets) in the Financial Markets Department. In 2008, he moved to Nomura Research Institute, where he is currently a senior chief researcher. His recent publications include "Digital Yen" (Nikkei Publishing).