All posts by ABechtel

2021 in review
Another year in the books! Similar to the end of last year, I want to look back and take stock of all articles, research papers, podcasts, webinars, panel discussions, etc. in which I was involved. The goal of all this work is to spread the word about blockchain, digital assets, digital currencies, and the functioning…

2020 in review
To be honest, I am not sad that the year 2020 and with it hopefully soon also the global pandemic come to an end. It was not a particularly satisfactory year for me, but a very productive one. Over the weekend, I have taken stock of all articles, research papers, podcasts, webinars, panel discussions, etc….
Online and offline conferences
Over the last weeks, I had the pleasure to be a guest in different webinars, online panels, and podcasts. Additionally, I finally started travelling again and had the chance to speak at “in-person” events. I visited the Federation of German Consumer Organisations (Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband) in Berlin to talk about the future of money. One week…
Deutsche Bank
In August, I have started working at Deutsche Bank, more precisely in the strategy division of the corporate bank. My job is to make the bank fit for the future when it comes to digital money and blockchain. Since I am the first official hire of Deutsche Bank that deals with these topics, several media…
Guest commentary on the Digital Dollar Project
Together with Jonas Gross, I have taken a close look at the Digital Dollar Project. Our analysis has been published as a guest commentary on the leading German media platform for blockchain and digital currencies BTC-ECHO: https://www.btc-echo.de/digital-dollar-project-die-revolution-des-globalen-geld-und-finanzsystems/.
China’s digital currency project: What is DC/EP all about?
This article is joint work with Jonas Gross and was originally published on Medium. Central bank digital currencies (CBDC) are becoming reality. On 16 April 2020, the Chinese central bank has started the test phase of its CBDC, called Digital Currency / Electronic Payment (DC/EP). It is currently tested in four Chinese cities: Shenzhen, Suzhou,…
Podcast series about the creation of different forms of money
As part of my podcast Bitcoin, Fiat & Rock’n’Roll, I have produced a series (in German) about the creation of money. I start with common forms of money such as central bank money and bank money (Buchgeld). In later episodes, I talk about more “esoteric” forms of money such as Libra, Bitcoin, and Gold. The…
Best Discussant Doctoral Award 2019
I am happy to have won the Swiss Finance Institute Best Discussant Doctoral Award 2019 for my discussion during this year’s SFI Research Days (https://www.sfi.ch/en/faculty/research-days). I would like to thank the Swiss Finance Institute for the price and the interesting conference.
New Podcast on Digital Currencies
I am launching a new podcast called Bitcoin, Fiat & Rock’n’Roll. It is a weekly show on topics surrounding digital currencies and fintech in the payment space. It is not a podcast on cryptocurrencies only, although Bitcoin and Co will play an important role. Instead, I want to approach the topic of digital currencies more…