Central Bank of West African States convenes international conference on crypto-assets and digital innovation implications for monetary and financial stability

The Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) is holding a high-level international conference in Dakar, Senegal on “Crypto-assets and digital innovations: opportunities and challenges for monetary and financial stability”, bringing together central bank governors, supervisory authorities, financial institutions, academia and experts in fintech, cybersecurity, blockchain and crypto-asset regulation. The conference is positioned against rapid digitalisation of finance, including the rise of crypto-assets, asset tokenisation, stablecoins and central bank digital currency (CBDC) work, and will focus on how these developments affect payments, savings, investment and financing while creating risks for financial stability, monetary policy transmission, market regulation and financial system governance. The agenda covers digital innovation and the transformation of the global financial landscape, stablecoin implications for monetary policy and financial stability, regulation and prudential supervision with a regional cooperation lens, and cybersecurity, financial integrity and central bank data protection, concluding with a governors’ roundtable on lessons for central banks. The one-day event will be broadcast live via streaming.