WASHINGTON—The International Monetary Fund may be considering creating a central bank cryptocurrency, a new report suggests.
That prediction was shared in a blog post by the IMF that touched on sensitive topics like central bank backed digital currencies and stablecoins.
The blog was written by IMF Deputy Division Chief Tommaso Mancini-Griffoli on IMFBlog, which is a blog for the organization’s officials and staff members to reflect on the most important policy and economic issues, FXTimes reported.
On privately issued stablecoins, the IMF author writes that stablecoins issued by private entities are continuously embarking on the space held by traditional currencies. Policymakers cannot continue to look at this sector from the sidelines and will eventually arbitrate in this sector, the author states. The IMF writes that stablecoins do not suffer from the price volatility of ordinary cryptocurrencies, and therefore can be adopted by customers much more quickly. They could become faster and more cost-effective methods of making payments, bank-backed when they are integrated into social media channels. The IMF referred to the synthetic central bank digital currency (sCBDC), FXTimes reported.
Potential Collaboration
“They said that there is a possibility that the central bank collaborates with the private sector for stablecoins,” FXTimes said.
The IMF suggested the possibility of creating a central bank digital coin.
“It will be a safe and stable cryptocurrency option backed by liquid assets. Moreover, it will solve the problem of trust since central banks already enjoy more public trust than private companies,” FXTimes said.