Madrid, 7/12/2023.- Alastria was present at BDZ 2023, held on November 28th and 29th at the Zaragoza Congress Center, gathering Spain’s blockchain community to delve into the challenges and future of web3 technology.
Alastria moderated the roundtable “Money in web3: competition or coexistence,” concluding that cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, tokenized deposits, and CBDCs (wholesale and retail), new forms of digital money derived from the token economy, will coexist with public money and traditional bank deposits as known today.
Participating in this discussion were Iberpay, Caixabank, and BitGo, entities providing insights into infrastructure, traditional financial services, and wallet and custody providers—three pivotal components in deciphering the forthcoming digital money landscape.
Joan Manel Arcas, from Caixabank Tech, mentioned the undetermined technology for a digital euro, with DLT remaining an open option. However, facing significant challenges lies in DLT network governance complexity and the performance required for a retail model. Conversely, for a potential wCBDC, using DLT would be highly feasible. The technology under review is inspired by the Hamilton project, employing a centralized ledger that utilizes a money representation model with UXTO, offering enhanced privacy and high transactional capability. The ECB has also stated its focus on programmable payments rather than programmable money.
The imperative for coexistence among new financial instruments is interoperability. Alberto López from Iberpay highlighted the BIS’s advocacy for a unified ledger, leveraging tokenization and programmability features for various digital currencies, aiming for common governance and standards. However, establishing a single global network involving all players is a formidable task. Therefore, discussions about a network of networks have emerged, a common layer for central banks linking other private and public initiatives using different tokenized financial assets. Iberpay is particularly interested in networks for regulated liabilities, where different tokenized assets can coexist. Leveraging Iberpay’s experience with sectoral networks, they suggest creating an #RLN network, similar to international consortia, linking to other networks, including future crypto asset networks, stablecoins, or central bank networks for interbank settlements.
Regulation plays a pivotal role in this coexistence. Joaquín Sastre explained that RTS are the technical definition of how entities regulated by MiCA will comply with the established standards. BitGo, preparing for two years for a digital custody license in Germany, expects a direct alignment with MiCA as many requirements are inspired by German regulations. Nevertheless, there are still significant obstacles between MiCA regulation and the market’s reality.
Looking ahead, Joan Manel Arcas envisions diverse networks for various use cases, ensuring interoperability for participants and end-users. Presently, entry barriers exist with multiple providers and wallets, lacking user-friendly experiences. Simplifying this realm for end-users requires enhancing usability with layers above networks to facilitate access. The Web3 community must strive to streamline this environment for end-users.
You can see the complete panel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-or2dpJ8t8o