Money and customer funds in the world of digital finance: Who really owns what?

Abstract

This paper addresses the moneyness of fully backed digital currencies issued by the private sector in the form of electronic monies, stablecoins and ‘synthetic’ central bank digital currencies. Are these true monies or are they just services provided by FinTech companies to facilitate the use of funds? Furthermore, who actually owns the funds that back these monies? Distinguishing between money, claims on money, and money claims that eventually become money, this paper compares the development of the above types of digital currencies with bank deposits as these have evolved in the banking practice over the years. The paper points to the apparent inconsistent treatment between issuers of digital currencies and banks as issuers of deposit claims, and indicates how addressing this inconsistency could change the rules that govern the provision of digital currencies, reallocate the responsibilities associated with their issuance and use, and redesign the measures to protect stakeholder rights. The suggested measures call for existing regulations to be revisited in some important respects