Jens Weidmann: Exploring a digital euro

Opening speech by Dr Jens Weidmann, President of the Deutsche Bundesbank and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements, at the digital conference "Fintech and the global payments landscape – exploring new horizons", virtual, 14 September 2021.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Ladies and gentlemen

A very warm welcome to this joint symposium of the Bundesbank and the People's Bank of China. The main theme of our conference is "Fintech and the global payments landscape – exploring new horizons."

I am delighted that we have brought together such a wealth of experts in this field, with representatives of academia, fintech companies, commercial banks, central banks, government and supervisory authorities amongst our number. Sharing our respective thoughts and experiences is to the benefit of all parties involved. I would also like to thank the People's Bank of China for co-hosting this conference.

Unfortunately, the pandemic forces us to hold it as a digital event. If we had been able to meet here in person, I would have recommended a visit to the Bundesbank's Money Museum and the current numismatic special exhibition on the topic of "Money Creators. Who decides what's money?" In the dawning age of digital currencies, that is a highly relevant question indeed. Crypto tokens and other innovations in finance are challenging established views on what constitutes money.