Digital currencies are transforming our monetary system. Since the first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, introduced in 2009, many new developments have challenged the use of traditional payment instruments and financial contracts. Current examples include Diem (former Libra), an initiative led by Facebook to challenge national and international payment arrangements, the USD Coin, the official coin of the crypto exchange Coinbase, and other private sector initiatives that are attracting ever more investment and rattle traditional financial regulation. These developments have not bypassed the attention of regulators, as more and more central banks are actively engaging with research and testing of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) to ensure the availability of central bank money to citizens in the digital age.

The Academy gives a thorough introduction into the topic of digital currencies. It first exposes participants to some of their technological foundations and then discusses the economic significance of their design and impact. Participants will also be exposed to current policy and regulatory challenges through case studies, mediated group discussions and expert panels. Among the topics covered are private sector digital currencies (incl. the so-called stablecoins), CBDCs, optimal digital currency areas, and private efforts to facilitate international payments.

The course will be in a blended format:

• Ahead of the meeting in Florence (4-25 April): introductory online classes
  • 2 hours of video lectures 
  • 1 hour of live discussion, in real-time
  • Group work on a case study
• Sessions in Florence (26-28 April): face-to-face meeting
  • Lectures and group activities
• After the sessions in Florence (3 May): concluding meeting online
  • 1h30 of live discussion, online

Thorsten V. Koeppl is a Professor and RBC Fellow in the Department of Economics at Queen’s University. He is currently also the Scholar in Financial Services and Monetary Policy at the CD Howe Institute one of Canada’s most influential policy think tanks. Prof. Koeppl advises the Bank of Canada on Central Bank Digital Currency and in the past has served as an adviser to several other policy institutions in matters of financial market organization, regulation and intervention in the past. Prof. Koeppl has degrees in management and in economics from the Universities of Eichstaett/Ingolstadt and Basle, and received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Minnesota in 2002. His main research interests are in the areas of macroeconomics (in particular monetary economics), financial market infrastructure and blockchain economics. He has published on these topics in top economics journals such as Review of Economic Studies, Journal of Economic Theory, Review of Financial Studies and the Journal of Financial Economics among several others.

Elisabeth Noble is a Senior Policy Expert at the European Banking Authority. She represents the EBA in EU and international standard-setter policy work streams relating to FinTech, market-based finance, financial system interconnectedness, market access and the regulatory perimeter. She leads the EBA’s work on crypto-assets and innovation facilitators and coordinates the European Forum for Innovation Facilitators. She is contributing to the development of the new EU Digital Finance Strategy and was a member of the European Commission’s Expert Group on Regulatory Obstacles to Financial Innovation (now disbanded). Prior to joining the EBA, Elisabeth spent 7 years at HM Treasury advising primarily on the UK government’s response to the financial crisis and the post-crisis domestic and EU regulatory reforms (2008-14), including the reforms to the regulatory architecture in the EU (Banking Union). Elisabeth has also spent some time in the private sector.

Early bird fee applies until 15 March 2022

• Early bird: € 2025 (Standard fee: €2250) – Private Sector
• Early bird: € 1755 (Standard fee: € 1950) : Public Authorities (e.g. National Competent Authorities, Central Banks) and European Institutions
• € 1150 (no early bird): Full-Time Professors, PhD Students, Research Associates – No early bird – standard fee

Please submit a certificate attesting your status of Professor, PhD Student or Research Associate to fbf@eui.eu before registering. FBF secretariat will provide you with a code to register. *Seats for academics are limited.

Please note that the payment must be settled two weeks before the start of the course.

A certificate of attendance will be provided to all participants after the course.

Cancellation Policy: 

• In case you can no longer attend the course, you are required to inform the organisers by sending an email to fbf@eui.eu in order to free a seat for participants in the waiting list.
• In case of frequent cancellations, FBF reserves the right not to accept further registrations from the same person.