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Raphael Auer @raphauer.bsky.social · 24d

Job alert: my current role. After 4 rewarding years leading the Eurosystem Centre, I’ll be moving back into a research role early next year. We’re also re-opening the search for the Nordic Centre Head — both applications close October 14:

www.bis.org/careers/vaca...

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Raphael Auer @raphauer.bsky.social · Jul 9

Happy to announce Leap Phase 2: together with Swift, Nexi, Banca d'Italia, Banque de France, and Bundesbank, we are exploring the implementation of post-quantum cryptography in a European payment system:

www.bis.org/about/bisih/...

Congrats to the Leap team for launching this initiative!

Raphael Auer @raphauer.bsky.social · Jul 7

2. Strategic planning: cryptographic agility, phased migration, and hybrid models
3. Pragmatism: focus on existing solutions rather than hypothetical ones, as well as, on implementation complexities and infrastructure challenges.

#CyberSecurity #FinancialServices #QuantumSafe
(3/3)

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Raphael Auer @raphauer.bsky.social · Jul 7

Danica Marsden, Sarah McCarthy and Andras Valko sets out a framework for the transition to quantum-safe cryptography, emphasizing:

1. Immediate action: awareness and cryptographic inventory
...

(2/3)

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Raphael Auer @raphauer.bsky.social · Jul 7

We must prepare our financial system for quantum threats. A new paper shows how: www.bis.org/publ/bppdf/b...

#Quantumcomputing poses a significant risk to global financial stability. This joint work with Donna Dodson, Angela Dupont, Maryam Haghighi, Nicolas Margaine, ... (1/3)

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Raphael Auer @raphauer.bsky.social · May 15

... #TVL can be inflated due to double-counting and reliance on off-chain data. We hence introduce Verifiable TVL, a more transparent and reproducible approach to measuring DeFi’s scale:

www.bis.org/publ/work126...

This is joint w Pietro Saggese, Stefan Kitzler, Michael F., Bernhard Haslhofer.

www.bis.org

Raphael Auer @raphauer.bsky.social · May 15

How economically significant is decentralized finance (#DeFi)?

www.bis.org/publ/work126...

Total Value Locked (#TVL) aims to capture the size of any ecosystem by summing up the funds that are locked in a given ecosystem, much like the liability side of a bank’s balance sheet. However...

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Kevin Werbach @kwerb.com · May 9

Here's a new report from the Bank for International Settlements, showing the reality of digital assets with actual data.

Yes, most activity is pure speculation. BUT, there is legitimate transactional cross-border usage of stablecoins.

www.bis.org/publ/work126...

DeFiying gravity? An empirical analysis of cross-border Bitcoin, Ether and stablecoin flows

We investigate trends and drivers of cross-border flows of the two major native cryptoassets (Bitcoin and Ether) and the two major asset-backed stablecoins (Tether and USD Coin) between 184 countries ...

www.bis.org

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Raphael Auer @raphauer.bsky.social · May 8

Bitcoin and Ether remain predominantly speculative, influenced by global market volatility.

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Raphael Auer @raphauer.bsky.social · May 8

analyze a novel and extensive crypto transaction dataset across 184 countries and the four major crypto assets (USDT, USDC, #Ether, and #Bitcoin). We uncover substantial volumes but distinct roles: stablecoins serve transactional needs like remittances, while...

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Raphael Auer @raphauer.bsky.social · May 8

New data shows #Stablecoins are quietly emerging as a global transactional means and reshaping remittance flows.

Happy to share "DeFiying Gravity? An Empirical Analysis of Cross-Border Bitcoin, Ether and Stablecoin Flows," with Ulf Lewrick and Jan Paulick: www.bis.org/publ/work126...

We...

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Raphael Auer @raphauer.bsky.social · May 2

Join the BIS Innovation Hub in Frankfurt, Paris, Hong Kong, London, Basel, Stockholm, Singapore, or Toronto. We have a number of secondment opportunities. Duration is typically 6-18 months.

Find here more information on the job and how to apply:

lde.tbe.taleo.net/lde01/ats/ca...

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Raphael Auer @raphauer.bsky.social · Apr 27

I found this video by MIT Professor Andrej Karpathy really worth the time (3½ hours). A non-technical walkthrough on creating an LLM chatbot like ChatGPT.

youtu.be/7xTGNNLPyMI?...

Deep Dive into LLMs like ChatGPT

YouTube video by Andrej Karpathy

youtu.be

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Raphael Auer @raphauer.bsky.social · Apr 24

Unlocking seamless, instant, and safe FX settlements - read our brand new report on Meridian FX connecting DL3S, the Trigger solution, and TIPS Hash-link to the UK RTGS system: www.bis.org/publ/othp94....

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VoxEU @ CEPR @voxeu.org · Apr 9

@raphauer.bsky.social, Cyril Monnet, & Hyun Song Shin discover that the economic gains from decentralisation of monetary ledgers are far from self-evident. One must balance decentralisation, security, and scalability.
cepr.org/voxeu/column...
#EconSky

Distributed ledgers are the embodiment of the vision of a decentralised notion of money. The key idea is to harness a network of self-interested ‘validators’ to perform the record keeping role of trusted intermediaries that underpin our current monetary system. This column examines the economic trade-offs in designing such systems, focusing on the interplay between decentralisation, finality, and scalability. A well-designed decentralised system aligns the interests of market participants with ledger maintainers. However, replicating validation across numerous validators can be cost-effective only in low-trust environments.

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Raphael Auer @raphauer.bsky.social · Mar 19

Submission deadline for #CEBRA25 is tomorrow 20.03: www.cebra-events.org/call-for-pap...

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Raphael Auer @raphauer.bsky.social · Mar 18

until March 31th:
igam.escb.eu/oamcontext/p...

(Note that the above link only works from a Eurosystem PC)

ECB IDP Broker

igam.escb.eu

Raphael Auer @raphauer.bsky.social · Mar 18

...found here: www.bis.org/about/bisih/...

These are Secondment positions open to current Eurosystem employees only. Candidates will hold the title of Adviser at the BIS Innovation Hub and work in either Frankfurt or Paris. A relocation and cost of living top-up is provided. Apply here: ... 3/4

BIS Innovation Hub Centre - Eurosystem

BIS Innovation Hub centre – Eurosystem

www.bis.org

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Raphael Auer @raphauer.bsky.social · Mar 18

... join a great team and advance critical work in digital currencies, artificial intelligence, and financial technology through collaboration with the entire hashtag#Eurosystem and the global network of the BIS Innovation Hub. More information on our projects can be... 2/4

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Raphael Auer @raphauer.bsky.social · Mar 18

Please share! We are happy to announce up to 4 Adviser positions (Secondment). The BIS Innovation Hub Eurosystem Centre invites applications for Project Lead, Data Engineer, Economist, and Data Scientist.

These roles offer opportunities to (1/4)...

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Raphael Auer @raphauer.bsky.social · Mar 14

...becomes preferable when intertemporal incentives are weaker.
- We demonstrate these results within a general framework encompassing anonymous or identified participants, permissioned or permissionless access, and monopolistic or competitive ledgers.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... (3/3)

Distributed ledgers and the governance of money

Distributed ledgers promise to enable the classical vision of money as a universal transaction record. But is it ever optimal to update a ledger throu…

www.sciencedirect.com

Raphael Auer @raphauer.bsky.social · Mar 14

This aligns incentives between those using the system and those maintaining it.
- Downsides include redundant validation costs and difficulties achieving consensus.
- On balance, centralized updating is optimal when long-term rewards are substantial, whereas decentralization...(2/3)

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

lnkd.in

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Raphael Auer @raphauer.bsky.social · Mar 14

Is there an economic case for decentralization? Below, some takeaways from a paper with Cyril Monnet and Hyun Shin, now available in the JFE: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
- Decentralization can provide benefits when validators are chosen from among the system’s users.... (1/3)

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Raphael Auer @raphauer.bsky.social · Feb 26

Gain hands-on experience at the heart of global finance: BIS is offering internships (up to 11 months) across the Innovation Hub, Economics, and Banking. These positions are for recent graduates - application deadline is 24.03: www.bis.org/careers/inde...

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Ugo Panizza @upanizza.bsky.social · Feb 25

🧵 Thinking about a career in international economics?

1/ Looking to combine academic rigor with policy relevance? Want to make a real impact in economic policy and research?

@gvagrad.bsky.social

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Oļegs Tkačevs @otkacevs.bsky.social · Feb 24

#EconSKy #EconConf The call for papers for CEBRA's 2025 Annual Meeting has been launched today. @latvijasbanka.lv together with @eestipank.bsky.social organizes a section on Monetary Policy Transmission: Dynamics and Heterogeneity.

www.cebra-events.org/call-for-pap...

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Raphael Auer @raphauer.bsky.social · Feb 24

...many thanks to co-organisers and local hosts Alberto Cavallo and his Pricing Lab, Egon Zakrajsek and the FRB Boston, and to Laura Alfaro & Raphael Schoenle for joining the organisation committee.

We have come a long way since hosting the first CEBRA...

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Raphael Auer @raphauer.bsky.social · Feb 24

It is a special honor to hold the 10th CEBRA Annual Meeting at @harvard.edu and the FRB Boston together with 30 central banks and IFIs:
www.cebra-events.org/call-for-pap...

The event will take place at FRB Boston on August 6 and at HBS on 7-8 Aug. Submission deadline is March 20, 2025....

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Raphael Auer @raphauer.bsky.social · Feb 21

...over 170 guests who joined us at the conference. The event brought together attendees from 39 central banks and 9 supervisory authorities and international financial institutions for discussions on the challenges quantum computing could pose for the cyber security of financial systems.

Raphael Auer @raphauer.bsky.social · Feb 21

The risk that quantum computers will soon be able to break widely used financial encryption is too significant to ignore. We recently held an event to discuss this threat and how to respond to it:
www.bis.org/events/25021...

Thanks to the...

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