The soaring price of Bitcoin has raised the question of whether countries should set up their own digital currencies. A digital currency would be issued by central banks, like banknotes, while cryptocurrencies rely on distributed ledgers like blockchain. China has already begun piloting a digital yuan currency in several major cities, and the Federal Reserve chairman has said that he will hold a public dialogue about the idea of creating a central bank digital currency. Sergio Focardi is professor of finance at the Pôle Universitaire Léonard de Vinci in Paris. At the moment, we have a two-tier banking system in most econ ... (full story)