Stablecoins and Central Bank Digital Currencies: Geostrategic Stakes for the International Monetary System

This article discusses the potential impact of stablecoins and central bank digital currencies (CBDC) on the international monetary system, particularly concerning the domination of the dollar. It is argued that stablecoins are likely to reinforce, rather than weaken, the dominant role of the dollar, since they are set up in a way that tends to favor an increased dollarization of private agents at the international level. Regarding CBDC, the article distinguishes between wholesale CBDC and retail CBDC. Wholesale CBDCs may affect the international monetary order because of their potential use in cross-border payments, depending on whether governments of major economies are involved in their creation. Retail CBDCs should not have a major effect on the international monetary system, but could eventually have an indirect influence, in particular through their effects on the banking sector and thereby on the relative performance of the different economies.