EU-Regulierung von Bitcoin und anderen virtuellen Währungen: erste Schritte

Bitcoin and other virtual currencies are becoming increasingly important. They are not money but are being used by a growing group of people as a means of payment and investment. Central banks and regulatory authorities have identified risks and see a need for regulation. Regulation areas with a high priority in the EU concern consumer protection, Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT). The EU institutions are currently revamping the AML Directive in order to include virtual currencies for the first time. An international coordination on the regulation of virtual currencies is on the agenda of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of G20 countries.     

Virtual Currencies,Distributed Ledgers and the Future of Financial Services

The phenomenon of virtual currencies has to be distinguished from the underlying distributed ledger technologies. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies need to be subject to strict financial regulation and supervision to ensure investor protection. At the same time, distributed ledger technologies will shape the future of the financial services in many respects. The disruptive potential is illustrated for selected financial products and processes.     

基于Q币的网络虚拟币属性与影响分析

Q币目前并不是货币,但具有一定的货币属性与功能,如有限度的流通性,相对的价值尺度职能,一定程度的支付手段等。就Q币的特征而言,Q币与法定货币之间存在着很大的差异,Q币不能代替人民币的作用。但虚拟币的无限创造能力成为潜在的不稳定因素,中央银行难以有效控制货币供给,可能危及我国的金融安全。我国应严厉打击倒卖Q币的行为,加强对Q币等网络虚拟币的金融监管,建立更安全便捷的支付渠道。     

Bitcoins,Blockchain und Distributed Ledgers

Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin were invented to facilitate instant payment services without the need for a central bank or financial intermediaries executing payments. Using cryptographic functions, any user of the bitcoin system can transfer units of the virtual currency globally on an anonymous basis. However, financial supervisory authorities are about to increase regulation of virtual currencies due to concerns that the anonymous character of the system facilitates money laundering and the financing of illegal transactions. Nevertheless, the underlying blockchain technology, or in broader terms the distributed ledger technology, may revolutionise several industries. This paper illustrates the functioning and recent market developments in the bitcoin industry as well as the disruptive potential of the underlying technologies.     

人民币区域化影响力研究——基于动态分布滞后模型的分析

本文在中国对亚洲主要国家的经贸关系和货币合作不断强化的背景下,通过1999-2012年的周度时间序列数据,并以人民币汇改及区域货币合作安排推进为时点,运用动态滞后分布模型分1999.1-2005.7、2005.7-2009.12和2010.1-2012.3三个区间实证分析人民币及其他世界货币对亚洲主要国家货币波动产生的长期影响效应及其变化。通过比较,发现美元对亚洲主要货币的影响下降,澳元影响则显著增强,日元对亚洲货币的影响逐渐衰退,而人民币对亚洲货币的影响较为有限,而这种影响关系主要来源于双边经贸关系的紧密程度,并在此基础上为人民币进一步区域化提出建议。     

The Influences of Major Currencies in Foreign Exchange Markets: A Regression‐Based Measure and Its Application

Based on the regression explanatory power, we propose a measure of the relative influences of a group of major currencies, including the US dollar, euro, Japanese yen, and UK pound, on the exchange rate behaviors of lesser currencies. Using the measure and 27 sample floating currencies, we empirically examine the cross‐currency and temporal variations in the relative influences of two, three, and four major currencies during the 16‐year post‐euro period of 1999 to 2014.     

Conditional dependence structure and risk spillovers between Bitcoin and fiat currencies

This paper investigates the extreme dependence and risk spillovers between Bitcoin and the currencies of the BRICS and G7 economies. We find time-varying dependence between Bitcoin and all currencies. Moreover, when analysing risk spillovers from Bitcoin to currencies, we find that Bitcoin exercises significant power over most currencies, with the South African rand and Brazilian real holding both the highest downside and upside risk before and during the COVID-19 pandemic period, respectively. When considering risk spillovers from currencies towards Bitcoin, the Japanese yen exhibits the highest downside spillovers. Importantly, we find asymmetric spillovers between extreme upward and downward movements.     

Does Euro or Dollar Pegging Impact the Real Exchange Rate? The Case of Oil and Commodity Currencies

The aim of this paper is to investigate the equilibrium exchange rates for commodity and oil currencies as well as the discrepancies of their observed exchange rates to these equilibriums. To this end, first, we estimate a long‐term relationship between the real effective exchange rate and economic fundamentals, including the commodity terms of trade. The estimation relies on panel cointegration techniques and covers annual data from 1980 to 2007. Our results show that real exchange rates co‐move with commodity prices in the long run and respond to oil price somewhat less than to commodity prices. Second, we assess the degree of misalignment of these currencies, as the gap between their observed exchange rate and the estimated equilibrium exchange rate. We show that these misalignments are not significantly related to the exchange rate regimes adopted by the countries, either pegged or floating. However, for pegged currencies, the size of misalignments significantly depends on the anchor currency, either the euro or the dollar. A comparison of misalignments of pegged commodity and oil currencies across different periods confirms these results: during periods of dollar (euro) overvaluation, currencies pegged to the dollar (euro) tend to be overvalued; the reverse being true when the dollar (euro) is undervalued. Consequently, pegged currencies are often driven away from their equilibria by wild fluctuations in the key currencies, on which they are anchored.     

Determinants shaping the international currency system: Where do currencies stand relative to their equilibria?

Using a sample of 27 currencies, we empirically test the role of a large set of determinants potentially underlying currencies' share in the international currency system, providing, to the best of our knowledge, the most comprehensive study of this kind so far. We propose a new global indicator that quantifies the international use of currencies on the basis of three dimensions—medium of exchange, unit of account and store of value. From a range of indicators including openness, financial development and institutional development indicators, we uncover several variables that are significant in explaining the international status of currencies, hence contributing to understanding the role of the determinants shaping the international currency system. We also investigate the long-run equilibrium values for currency shares, allowing us to score currencies on the basis of the potential stemming from the determinants. We contribute to the debate on international currencies' prospects, not only by looking at much discussed currencies such as the US dollar, the euro and the Chinese renminbi, but also by uncovering potential of emerging currencies. This knowledge is of the utmost importance for the debate on the reform of the international monetary system—from the point of view of academics, policymakers and market practitioners.     

An analysis of forward exchange rate biasedness across developed and developing country currencies: Do observed patterns persist out of sample?

Forward exchange rate unbiasedness hypothesis (FRUH) has been a widely researched subject for decades. Recently, the sample populations of these studies have expanded to include developing country currencies. The majority of these findings have been that forward rate biasedness is more pronounced for developed country currencies than it is for developing country currencies. One such paper (Frankel and Poonawala, 2010) has further suggested that this phenomenon may contradict Risk Premium Theory since developing country currencies are relatively more volatile. Our analysis first replicates the results of Frankel and Poonawala and then extends the study out of sample using an updated composition of currency classifications. The results of this extended period of analysis show that forward rate biasedness is less pronounced for developed country currencies than for developing country currencies and consequently does not establish grounds to challenge Risk Premium Theory. Furthermore, our results are consistent with another branch of literature which suggests that conflicting FRUH test results may be particular to the time period examined. It is therefore possible to speculate that period-specific factors were responsible for the results found in previous research.     

Getting beyond carry trade: What makes a safe haven currency?

The main objective of this paper is to investigate the fundamentals of safe haven currencies, which are those currencies that provide an hedge for a reference portfolio of risky assets, conditional on shocks to global risk aversion. We analyse a large panel of 52 currencies in advanced and emerging countries over almost 25 years of data. We find that only a few factors are robustly associated to a safe haven status, most notably the net foreign asset position, an indicator of external vulnerability, and whether currencies have been a good hedge in the past. In addition, the currencies of large, less financially open economies are a good hedge against global risk aversion shocks. By contrast, the level of the interest rate spread vs. the US is significant only during the latest crisis. Finally, we find some evidence of non-linearity as the importance of the fundamentals is stronger during crisis times.     

东亚区域经济体货币汇率政策协调的理论探讨

由于东亚区域合作性得益的存在,基于贸易商品渠道和市场的区域共同篮子货币的协调性汇率稳定机制一旦形成,基础性的区域宏观货币政策协调机制能够推动东亚区域成员经济体之间非货币汇率竞争性政策的竞争经济的形成,这将在更大程度上推进东亚区域货币金融合作和货币一体化的实际进程.     

Capital Flight and Bitcoin Regulation

This paper studies the risk of Bitcoin being used for the purpose of capital flight. We propose a new indicator, the bitcoin‐implied exchange rate discount, to identify empirically capital flight via Bitcoin. Using data from the two largest bitcoin exchanges in the world during our sample period, BTC China and Bitstamp, we find strong evidence of capital flight from the Chinese Renminbi to the US Dollar via Bitcoin before the People's Bank of China, China's central bank, announced its regulatory policy on December 5, 2013, while the evidence displays no trace of capital flight after the announcement. The People's Bank of China's Bitcoin restriction policy successfully halts the illicit capital outflow via Bitcoin, thereby providing valuable policy implications for government regulation on Bitcoin, as well as on other virtual currencies.     

Interdependence of Major Exchange Rates in Ghana: A Wavelet Coherence Analysis

ABSTRACT

We have employed the three-dimensional continuous Morlet wavelet transform methodology to explore the co-movement amongst the returns of four major currencies in Ghana (dollar, euro, pound, and yen) for the period May 1999 to February 2018. The analysis reveals that the dynamics of the interdependence of the currencies is time-varying and heterogeneous. Our empirical findings demonstrate that the currencies are closely linked or interconnected. The lead–lag relationships between the returns of the exchange rates established that volatilities in the euro and yen significantly affect movements in the other currencies in daily and weekly exchange rate returns. The presence of lead–lag effects and stronger co-movements at short-run fluctuations may induce arbitrage and diversification opportunities to investors, albeit with limited space. The differences in the co-movements of returns and the evidence of contagion among the foreign exchange markets provide reliable incentive to the monetary authorities for unflinching strides to halt the speeding exchange rates.     

FX Market Returns and Their Relationship to Investor Fear

This note examines the relationship between changes in levels of investor fear (measured by the implied volatility index) and foreign exchange market returns. Our empirical results indicate a negative relationship between daily returns on high‐interest rate (investing) currencies and changes in the implied volatility index, while the association is positive for low‐interest rate (funding) currencies. That is, investing (funding) currencies tends to depreciate (appreciate) when investor fear increases. A sequential breakpoint test identifies a significant change in this relationship in the period following the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers, and another in 2012 following the resolution of the European sovereign debt crisis, which suggests that the relationship is linked to financial system liquidity. During the crisis period, currency returns are much more sensitive to changes in investor fear, and this is particularly so for funding currencies that are perceived to present a safe‐haven. The results have important implications for international finance, and those looking to speculate via the carry trade.     

Commodity Price,Carry Trade,and the Volatility and Liquidity of Asian Currencies

This study examines how the volatility and liquidity of 10 Asian exchange rates against the US dollar change with volatilities in commodity price and carry trade over the period of January 2000 to June 2010. We find that uncertainties in commodity markets and carry trades are significantly correlated with the volatilities and the bid‐ask spreads of most Asian currencies. The correlation with carry trade is generally stronger and has been rising over the sample period. While high volatilities in carry trade are associated with high volatilities in many Asian currencies, high volatilities in commodity price do not coincide with excessive volatilities in Asian currencies. This suggests that investors and policymakers should be more concerned with the volatility in carry trade.     

欧元美元金融大战鹿死谁手

欧元这种新币种自诞生以来,普遍受到人们的关注,其存在对于世界主要储备货币和结算贷币美元来说是个重大挑战。事实上,第二次世界金融大战外围战已经爆发,但欧元、美元大战鹿死谁手,还不得而知。     

Blockchain tokens and the potential democratization of entrepreneurship and innovation

Over the past few years, Bitcoin has emerged as the first decentralized, global currency. The rise of Bitcoin has brought attention not only to digital currencies but also to the underlying technology empowering digital currencies: blockchain technology. A blockchain is a distributed ledger that records and secures transactions in a peer-to-peer network. Besides empowering digital currencies, blockchain technology has given innovators the capability of creating digital tokens to represent scarce assets, potentially reshaping the landscape of entrepreneurship and innovation. Blockchain tokens may democratize (1) entrepreneurship by giving entrepreneurs new ways to raise funds and engage stakeholders, and (2) innovation by giving innovators a new way to develop, deploy, and diffuse decentralized applications. Blockchain technology and tokens have sparked a new wave of innovation, which may start to revolutionize entrepreneurship and innovation.     

货币国际化的全球经验与启示

人民币国际化是中国在21世纪面临的重要历史任务。历史的经验值得借鉴。本文以相关研究为基础,简要考察了历史上主要国际化货币的演化历程,对货币国际化的基本含义、一般条件、主要模式、基本路径、进程、步骤以及利弊等问题进行了讨论。最后,本文从中总结出了对人民币国际化的相关启示。     

Predicting exchange rate returns

We test whether forward premiums predict spot exchange rate returns for 16 currencies. We apply a recently developed time series predictability test that allows us to model data features including heteroskedasticity in forward premium. We discover return predictability for 75% (12/16) of currencies in our sample. Trading strategies show that investors can make more profits from our proposed forward premium model compared to a random walk model and foreign exchange carry trade model.