Payment systems around the world are evolving with the emergence of digital money issued by private firms and central banks. We provide a conceptual framework to compare and contrast traditional forms of money with their new digital equivalents. We suggest that some forms of digital money, while less stable as a store of value, could be rapidly adopted given their advantages as a means of payment. We review the benefits and risks that would emerge. One approach to managing risks would be to require full backing of selected digital money with central bank reserves. We call the arrangement synthetic central bank digital currency (sCBDC), a private-public partnership that combines the advantages of private sector innovation and customer orientation with the safety and stability of central bank–backed money. We offer policy considerations, directions for research, and an overview of the literature to date. The analysis of digital currencies is an exciting new field crossing into monetary and financial economics that will reshape the monetary and financial systems for many years to come.

中文翻译：

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数字货币的兴起

随着私营公司和中央银行发行的数字货币的出现，世界各地的支付系统都在不断发展。我们提供了一个概念框架来比较和对比传统形式的货币与其新的数字等价物。我们建议，某些形式的数字货币虽然作为价值储存手段不太稳定，但鉴于其作为支付手段的优势，可以迅速采用。我们审查将出现的好处和风险。管理风险的一种方法是要求中央银行准备金充分支持选定的数字货币。我们将这种安排称为合成中央银行数字货币 (sCBDC)，这是一种公私合作伙伴关系，将私营部门创新和客户导向的优势与中央银行支持的货币的安全性和稳定性相结合。我们提供政策考虑，研究方向，以及迄今为止的文献综述。数字货币分析是一个令人兴奋的新领域，跨越货币和金融经济学，将在未来许多年重塑货币和金融体系。