Disintermediation of International Settlements in Emerging Multipolar World

77
DOI: 10.20542/0131-2227-2024-68-9-67-78
EDN: FFAKAJ
N. Kunitsyna, nkunitcyna@ncfu.ru
North-Caucasus Federal University, 1, Pushkin Str., Stavropol, 355017, Russian Federation.
E. Dyudikova, dudikova.e@gmail.com
North-Caucasus Federal University, 1, Pushkin Str., Stavropol, 355017, Russian Federation.

Received 22.04.2024. Revised 24.06.2024. Accepted 01.07.2024.

Acknowledgements. Research is supported by Russian Science Foundation, project no. 24-28-00283 (https://rscf.ru/en/project/24-28-00283).


Abstract. In the context of general globalization, the information society in digital realities faced the problem of ensuring national sovereignty. On the one hand, the threat to the banking system is the expanding ecosystem of alternative finance on the sidelines of the metaverse. On the other hand, the problem is aggravated by the forced localization and segmentation of the settlement and payment space: there are negative consequences of the payment systems dependence on the political beliefs of their administrators. As a result, the focus on the world multipolarity required the response of government agencies in the vector of searching for a digital channel for cross-border movement of monetary value. The attractiveness of the digital trusted environment is embodied in the “ideology+technology” complex. There are two approaches to integrating high-tech innovations into the global financial system: a) conformist, when only the technological component with the predominant preservation of the traditional economic structure is taken into account, and b) eccentric, combining fourth-generation web technologies and classical elements of centralization in the focus of the inextricable link between technology and innovation ideology. The authors conclude that the centralization characteristic of the first approach transforms high-tech innovation with its loss of specific features. This makes the solution (legitimate settlement stablecoin) unpromising. This implementation of the “digital” settlement format not only does not facilitate the design by disintermediation and providing users with the opportunity to directly participate in the movement of value, but, on the contrary, complicates it by entering additional participants. The search for selfsufficient conservative tools for cross-border transfers is archaism: the global digitalization race suggests that in the foreseeable future, no leading country will cede its leading position in the segment of supranational digital settlements, recognizing and accepting a competitor’s digital (crypto) asset as a potential impetus to currency hegemony. A nontrivial solution to the second approach is a digital service like a data container that officially translates the key values of the digital world into a trusted web 4.0 environment. It will provide participants in the international “digital” union with information exchange with a guarantee of independence through financial decisions at the national level. At the same time, the number of transfer stages using smart contracts is reduced, and the applying of artificial intelligence and smart analysis tools has a high potential to improve the quality of control and monitoring. Thus, during the period of expanding the opportunities of the virtual world, the role of metaverse as a new format of interaction is growing, capable of uniting participants at a new level of the settlement and payment space organization. It is advisable not to localize the new formation, but to segment it according to national characteristics with a guarantee of its international interactivity.

Keywords: international settlements, international digital union, metaverse, smart contract, stablecoin, distributed ledger technology, central bank digital currency, digital payment space


REFERENCES

1. Kochergin D.A., Andryushin S.A., Sheshukova E.S. Opportunities for Currency Integration in the Context of Monetary Systems Digitalization. ECO, 2024, no. 1, pp. 132-149. (In Russ.) Available at: https://doi.org/10.30680/ECO0131-7652-2024-1-132-149 

2. Qin K., Zhou L., Afonin Y., Lazzaretti L., Gervais A. CeFi vs. DeFi – Comparing Centralized to Decentralized Finance. Available at: https://arxiv.org/abs/2106.08157v2 (accessed 22.03.2024).

3. Keister T., Sanches D. Should Central Banks Issue Digital Currency? The Review of Economic Studies, 2023, no. 90 (1), pp. 404-431. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdac017

4. Morales-Resendiz R., Ponce J., Picardo P. et al. Implementing a Retail CBDC: Lessons Learned and Key Insights. Latin American Journal of Central Banking, 2021, vol. 2, no. 1. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.latcb.2021.100022

5. Dilek S. Cryptocurrencies in the Digital Era: The Role of Technological Trust and Its International Effects. Blockchain Economics and Financial Market Innovation, 2019, pp. 453-474.

6. Yuneline M.H. Analysis of Cryptocurrency’s Characteristics in Four Perspectives. Journal of Asian Business and Economic Studies, 2019, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 206-219.

7. Àllenykh Ì.À. Is Digital Currency Private Money? Bulletin of Tver State University. Series: Economy and Management, 2021, no. 1 (53), pp. 21-30. (In Russ.) Available at: https://doi.org/10.26456/2219-1453/2021.1.021-030

8. Genkin À.S. Bitcoin: The Risks and Temptations of a New Private Cryptocurrency. Financial business, 2014, no. 1, pp. 37-45. (In Russ.)

9. Arner D., Auer R., Frost J. Stablecoins: Risks, Potential and Regulation. BIS Working Paper, 2020, no. 905. Available at: https://www.bis.org/publ/work905.pdf (accessed 17.04.2024).

10. Fernández-Villaverde J., Sanches D. Can Currency Competition Work? Journal of Monetary Economics, 2019, no. 106, pp. 1-15.

11. Savinova N.G. Formation of a Common Currency Area as a Natural Process of Monetary and Financial Integration. Innovation & Investment, 2016, no. 3, pp. 57-59. (In Russ.)

12. Dyudikova E.I., Kunitsyna N.N. Paradoxes of the Digital Ruble Implementation in Monetary Turnover. Voprosy Ekonomiki, 2024, no. 4, pp. 148-158. (In Russ.) Available at: https://doi.org/10.32609/0042-8736-2024-4-148-158

13. Rozhentsova E.V. Supra-National Currency as Synthesis of Reserve and Payment Means: SDR and United States Dollar. The Russian Journal of Economic Theory, 2017, no. 2, pp. 17-25. (In Russ.)

14. Szabo N. Smart Contracts: Building Blocks for Digital Markets. Available at: http://www.truevaluemetrics.org/DBpdfs/BlockChain/Nick-Szabo-Smart-Contracts-Building-Blocks-for-Digital-Markets-1996-14591.pdf (accessed 17.04.2024).


SOURCES

1. Emerging Markets in Asia Are Rushing to Adopt Central Bank Digital Currencies. The Diplomat, 05.08.2023. Available at: https://thediplomat.com/2023/08/emerging-markets-in-asia-are-rushing-to-adopt-central-bank-digital-currencies/ (accessed 17.04.2024).

2. CoinMetrics. Available at: https://network-charts.coinmetrics.io/ (accessed 22.01.2024).

3. Russia-related Designations; Cyber-related Designations. U. S. Department of the Treasury, 25.03.2024. Available at: https://ofac.treasury.gov/recent-actions/20240325 (accessed 19.04.2024).


For citation:
Kunitsyna N., Dyudikova E. Disintermediation of International Settlements in Emerging Multipolar World. World Eñonomy and International Relations, 2024, vol. 68, no. 9, pp. 67-78. https://doi.org/10.20542/0131-2227-2024-68-9-67-78 EDN: FFAKAJ



Comments (0)

No comments

Add comment







Indexed

 

 

 

 

Dear authors! Please note that in the VAK List of peer-reviewed scientific journals, in which the main scientific results of dissertations for the degree of candidate and doctor of sciences should be published for the “MEMO Journal” the following specialties are recorded:
economic sciences:
5.2.5. World Economy.
5.2.1. Economic Theory
5.2.3. Regional and Branch Economics
political sciences:
5.5.4. International Relations
5.5.1. History and Theory of Politics
5.5.2. Political Institutions, Processes, Technologies

 

Current Issue
2025, vol. 69, No. 11
Topical Themes of the Issue:
  • Potential Sources of Arms Race in the Context of U.S.–China Confrontation in Asia-Pacific Region
  • Foreign Trade Policy under Conditions of Polycentrism
  • Ñountry-Specific Characteristics of Consumer Behavior in Asia
  • UK Policy in the Ukrainian Conflict
Announcement

Dear authors of the journal!

Please note that the author's copies of the issues in which your texts are published are kept in the editorial office for no more than one year. After this period expires, the editorial office has the right to dispose of unclaimed copies at its own discretion.

Dear authors of the journal!

We would like to inform you that the materials proposed for publication in our journal must be submitted only through the form located on the journal website in the “Submit an article” section.

 

Submit an Article
INVITATION FOR PUBLICATION
The Editorial Board invites authors to write analytical articles on the following topics:
  • changes in the processes of globalization in modern conditions
  • formation of the new world order
  • shifts in civilization at the stage of transition to a digital society

The editors are also interested in publishing synthesis articles / scientific reviews revealing the main trends in the development of certain regions of the world - Latin America, Africa, South Asia, etc.