CURACAO NESARA GESARA: A Cashless Society in 2019
CURACAO NESARA GESARA: A Cashless Society in 2019
Abstract
The
Cashless Society Working Party (CSWP) was formed late 2016 with a
number of volunteers. Its first paper “A Cashless Society: Benefits,
Risks and Issues” (referred to as “Interim paper”) formed the basis for a
broader body of work.
“A Cashless Society in 2018” continued Its global
chronicle and presented the 2018 trends for the topic. The 2019 version
focuses on the trends of that year. Only significant events or
announcements are talked about, and only new findings are reported for
the ones that featured in the 2017 and 2018 copies.
This version was
collated in the spirit of further developing knowledge, compared to
previous years.
The first chapter explores the events of 2019 which brought the
geopolitical implications of payments to the fore: Facebook’s sudden
announcement of plans to launch its Libra cryptocurrency with a
consortium of companies caused consternation, uniting all regulators
against the project and against the ongoing excesses of leading
technology platforms as a by-product.
Beyond the headlines, cryptocurrencies have been gaining increasing
acceptance, with more businesses preparing to receive them as payments.
Regulators are adapting to the new reality with various approaches,
while public authorities are under pressure to take enforcement action
against money laundering and other crimes associated with anonymous
cryptocurrencies.
Behind the scenes, Central Banks have been exploring the potential for
applying the technology that underpins cryptocurrencies to deploy
digital fiat money, dubbed Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC);
this
may take the form of a retail or wholesale instrument.
As the Libra project challenged Central Banks’ authority on monetary
policy, activity and research on the topic of CBDCs suddenly attracted
attention in the midst of international tensions: China announced its
readiness to launch a digital Yuan in the near future, emphasising the
geopolitical dimension of currencies amongst a complex set of issues.
The paper then revisits the key trends that were identified in 2018, to
highlight significant developments in those areas. While technological
developments were relentless, reliability and security of digital
solutions remain core concerns.
The implications of the data economy and
the power of behemoth technology platforms over personal data and,
potentially, financial transactions, focused the activity of regulators.
The public is equally interested in the consequences of a surveillance
state on democracy.
The issue of financial exclusion and the effects of a less-cash society
on poorer members of developed countries was an additional debate for
legislators to consider how to tackle the viability of ATMs and the
access to cash more generally.
By contrast, some African Central Banks
have been driving a digital payments and financial inclusion agenda.
Ghana is now engaging in that journey.
Finally, this paper reviews the log of risks and issues that were
defined in the interim paper, in the context of the 2018 and 2019
developments. All have evolved to some degree, yet they are still
relevant and require attention.
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