The FSB invites academic paper submissions for a plenary session on the topic of ‘Financial Stability Implications of Decentralised Finance (DeFi) and Crypto Asset Markets’ at the 2022 Annual Meeting of CEBRA. The conference is jointly organised by the Banco de España, the Barcelona School of Economics (BSE) and the Leibniz Institute for Financial Research “Sustainable Architecture for Finance in Europe” (SAFE), and will take place in person at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra from 29-31 August 2022

Crypto-asset markets are fast evolving and could reach a point where they represent a threat to global financial stability due to their scale, structural vulnerabilities and increasing interconnectedness with the traditional financial system. The rapid evolution and international nature of these markets also raise the potential for regulatory gaps, fragmentation or arbitrage. The different segments of these markets – such as unbacked crypto-assets, stablecoins, and decentralised finance (DeFi) – are closely interrelated in a complex and constantly evolving ecosystem, and need to be considered holistically when assessing financial stability risks.

DeFi has recently become a fast-emerging sector, providing financial services and products based on ‘smart contracts’ built using blockchain technology and purportedly without the need for intermediaries. Transactions are typically collateralised by crypto-assets. The technology, lack of transparency and distributed nature of DeFi poses a number of regulatory challenges.

Authors are invited to submit papers that analyse and provide insights on the structures and evolving linkages between crypto-asset markets, including with the traditional financial system. Of particular interest are papers that analyse the potential benefits and financial stability risks from the development of crypto-assets in general, and DeFi in particular. 

Papers should be submitted via the SAFE website by 1 April 2022