Cryptocurrencies and the Future of Money as a Public Good

Abstract This article engages with Digital Assets and the Law to examine the implications of digital monetary innovations, including cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and CBDCs, for the institutional foundations of contemporary monetary systems. It argues that these innovations bring into sharper focus fundamental questions about the purposes of money and whether existing public-private institutional arrangements remain adequate to fulfil them. Rather than viewing crypto-assets as exogenous developments, the article situates them within a broader historical and political context, tracing their emergence to longstanding tensions in monetary governance. Focusing primarily on policy responses in Western economies, it argues that many have been predominantly conservative, seeking to preserve and adapt the existing monetary order rather than addressing the underlying tensions from which these innovations emerged. Instead, the article proposes assessing alternative monetary arrangements according to their capacity to strengthen money’s character as a public good. It concludes by outlining five possible future scenarios, evaluating each in terms of their implications for monetary governance and the broader public interest.