Digital Assets

Article

Illustration of Banking, Finance, and Crypto on a dark blue technology background

Stablecoins and Financial Stability

Econ Focus

Fourth Quarter 2025

The United States has introduced a new stablecoin regulatory framework, but concerns over the cryptocurrency's place in the global economy remain.

Matthew Wells

Article

Bitcoin symbol lurking around Wall Street

Digital Assets and Blockchain Through an Economics Lens

Econ Focus

First/Second Quarter 2025

Digital assets such as cryptocurrencies are attractive for reasons beyond their investment uses.

Anna Kovner
Executive Vice President and Director of Research

Article

Stability for Stablecoins?

Econ Focus

Fourth Quarter 2024

The ideal regulatory structure for stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency backed by existing assets, has been a contentious question among members of Congress, especially in deciding the primary regulator.

Sam Louis Taylor

Article

Close-up of hands of person using a tablet computer

What Is a Crypto Conglomerate Like FTX? Economics and Regulations

Economic Brief

March 2023, No. 23-09

FTX and its affiliated arms seemed to create a risky situation that ultimately fell apart.

Jonathan Chiu and Russell Wong

Podcast

How Stable Are Stablecoins?

Speaking of the Economy

Oct. 12, 2022

Russell Wong discusses the emergence of stablecoin as an alternative to more volatile cryptocurrencies in the financial system. Wong is a senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.

Article

Yiming Ma presents her paper to attendees of the Intermediation and Bank Liquidity Conference, part of August's CORE Week collaboration

Intermediation and Bank Liquidity: A Conference Recap

Economic Brief

August 2022, No. 22-34

How might a CBDC alter the banking system? How does credit easing affect bank runs? These and other questions were addressed during a recent Richmond Fed conference.

John Mullin and Matthew Wells

Article

Central Bank Digital Currencies and Regulatory Alternatives: the Case for Stablecoins

Economic Brief

July 2022, No. 22-26

Properly regulating stablecoins could achieve the same objectives as issuing a central bank digital currency.

Bruno Sultanum

Article

Why Stablecoins Fail: An Economist’s Post-Mortem on Terra

Economic Brief

July 2022, No. 22-24

When confidence in Terra's currencies was shaken, it created a freefall that couldn't be stopped.

Russell Wong

Article

Photo of a multicolor financial graph on a screen.

A Historical Perspective on Digital Currencies

Economic Brief

June 2022, No. 22-21

Perhaps history can be a guide on whether central banks should issue digital currencies.

Huberto M. Ennis, Zhu Wang and Russell Wong

Article

Are There Compelling Reasons to Consider a Central Bank Digital Currency for the U.S.?

Economic Brief

June 2022, No. 22-20

Even exploring a CBDC without ultimately issuing one can provide significant benefits.

Zhu Wang

Article

Fed Eyes Central Bank Digital Currency

Econ Focus

Second Quarter 2022

Policymakers are weighing the possible benefits and risks of adopting a U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC).

John Mullin

Podcast

The Fed's Role in Payments Innovation

Speaking of the Economy

April 20, 2022

Vanity McDaniel and Zhu Wang review the Federal Reserve's important role in the payments system, from cash and check processing to supporting innovations in electronic payments. McDaniel is a senior payments business analyst in the Payments Outreach group and Wang is vice president for research in financial and payments systems in the Research Department at the Richmond Fed.

Article

Abstract image implying technology in action

When Will Firms Issue Digital Currencies?

Econ Focus

Fourth Quarter 2021

In the last year, more than 10 percent of Americans have reportedly traded or bought cryptocurrencies, in part fueled by increased institutional adoption and public attention in the media. This increased engagement has captured the attention of both the general public and central bankers alike.

Article

Should Central Banks Worry About Facebook's Diem and Alibaba's Alipay?

Economic Brief

May 2021, No. 21-17

Facebook and Amazon are examining creating digital currencies, like Alibaba has. What drives platforms to develop these currencies, and should central banks be worried?

Jonathan Chiu, Tim Sablik and Russell Wong

Article

finger touching a bubble of a dollar sign

Should the Fed Issue Digital Currency?

Economic Brief

March 2021, No. 21-10

The U.S. might benefit from replacing physical cash with central bank digital currency, but first the Fed must resolve several policy and implementation issues.

Jessie Romero, Zhu Wang and Russell Wong

Working Paper

Payments on Digital Platforms: Resiliency, Interoperability and Welfare

Working Paper Series

February 2021, No. 21-04

This paper studies a platform's business model choice between accepting cash and issuing tokens, as well as the implications for welfare, resiliency, and interoperability.

Jonathan Chiu and Russell Wong

Working Paper

The Cost of Information in the Blockchain: A Discussion of Routledge and Zetlin-Jones (2018)

Working Paper Series

February 2021, No. 21-02

In this discussion paper, I provide a cautionary tale. I show also in a version of Green and Lin (2003) that the information content in the blockchain prevents agents from attaining all the gains from risk sharing — highlighting the downsides of too much public information.

Bruno Sultanum

Article

Corporate Crypto Crowdfunding

Econ Focus

First Quarter 2019

The technology behind cryptocurrencies shows promise for raising capital but has also drawn scrutiny from regulators.

Tim Sablik

Article

Speeding Up Payments

Econ Focus

Fourth Quarter 2017

Can payments be made to work faster, safer, and more efficiently?