I’m proud to share that my first book is finally here. Put simply, it has everything you need to get up to speed on CBDCs. But if that’s not enough to convince you, let me walk you through some of the highlights. 🧵. 🔗

Bank of Jamaica governor says the "breakthrough" with the CBDC will happen when people start using it. For the folks keeping score at home, the Jamaican CBDC was launched nearly 3 years ago.

RT @CatoCMFA: This Week @CatoCMFA!!.----------------------------------.Events:.- Right-sizing Financial Regulation - Sept. 11th https://t.c….

RT @TimHite: The Bank Secrecy Act erodes financial privacy, imposes costly compliance, delays a person's ability to move money, and creates….

"By mandating more restrictions and guardrails on how Zelle and other payment apps scrutinize payments, AG James will effectively force the tech app to raise fees, impose transaction limits, and generally erode the customer experience. " - @YaelOss

RT @YaelOss: great interview with my friend @EconWithNick on why the fight against CBDCs is far from over.

The @HRF CBDC Tracker has details on more than 140 jurisdictions.

RT @josephlawler: Inflation-wracked Venezuela unveiled a much-anticipated "digital" currency and it's just. normal currency but just in a….

If you want to learn more about this story and other CBDC developments around the world, check out the @HRF CBDC Tracker here.

As if this story were not enough, there’s also the tale of when Maduro introduced an actual digital currency called the “petro.” However, I'll leave that for another day.

Something is clearly broken if a central bank has launched a non-digital, digital currency denominated at 1/1,000,000th of its previously hyperinflated currency that was already on its second devaluation.

For the fans of statistics and @ExcelHumor, I probably don't need to point it out. However, “REF” is also the error code that Excel will display if a formula is broken. And frankly, this label could not be more fitting.

The central bank forced shops to post prices as both sovereign bolívars (Bs) and digital bolívars (Bs.D). Yet, there is a third label on prices that can also be seen in Venezuelan shops: REF. In short, this means to reference the dollar.

So, it’s not a CBDC by any means, but there is a side note to this story that unexpectedly captures just how absurd the Venezuelan monetary system has become.

No, this is not a hyperrealistic AI-generated image of what a digital bolívar might look like. It really is a physical banknote. The only thing that's new is the devaluation so that 1,000,000 sovereign bolívars = 1 digital bolívar.

Well… here it is. The “digital” bolívar.

Later that year, the Banco Central de Venezuela seemed to confirm those suspicions when it announced the digital bolívar was indeed on the way along with a currency devaluation.

In early 2021, Nicolas Maduro briefly hinted that a “digital bolívar” would soon be part of an effort to digitize the Venezuelan economy. Many people took this statement to mean a CBDC was on the way.

Can we take a moment to talk about the digital bolívar in Venezuela? 🧵

With that said, there’s only so much I can distill in a few posts when the full paper is 67 pages. So be sure to check out the full crash course @ProfJulieHill put together. The paper is available on SSRN below.

However, as Hill points out, there are solutions that could go a long way in fixing this mess. Namely, it’s time to end reputational risk regulation, reform the Bank Secrecy Act, and promote transparency. And while progress has been made, there's still a long way to go.