Economists at the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) took a look at the risks inherent in the crypto ecosystem and came up with a seemingly novel solution. “Develop an alternative,” they advised in a bulletin released on Jan. 12. What they had in mind was central bank digital currency (CBDC).
The authors of the bulletin, headed by BIS senior economist Matteo Aquilina, said they sought lessons from the crypto winter that descended in 2022. The recent failures in crypto asset markets underscore the need to address the risks presented by crypto before those markets become “systemic,” they said.