CBDC & Privacy Technology
With guests:
| Michael Greco, Digital Dollar Project
| Robert Zev Mahari, MIT Connection, Science & Engineering
Privacy is a fundamental aspect of life, and privacy regarding financial transactions is a critical topic for everyone. The myriad of digital forms of money and payment instruments available to the public today all affect our privacy in some way, and retail CBDCs will be no exception.
Depending on how privacy is embedded as a design option, adoption rates of rCBDCs could be affected, prompting us to explore privacy in the context of digital currencies and the role of trust and technology further in Session #15 of the CBDC Broadcast.
Guests Michael Greco and Robert Zev Mahari, joined FNA to offer their diverse perspectives to examine the different approaches to privacy and discuss whether a two-tier rCBDC system could bring us close to the privacy levels we have today while ensuring compliance with AML regulations.
The session covered:
- The current state of affairs regarding privacy in retail digital payments
- Whether technology can provide sufficient privacy protection for rCBDCs
- Who are we trusting with our privacy as CBDCs are introduced
- Whether a two-tiered CBDC system could offer an effective and practical way to keep privacy as we enjoy it today
- Whether the quest for extreme privacy from an rCBDC is justified?
- The potential risks to privacy that are unique to CBDCs compared to traditional payment systems
- How is privacy regarding retail CBDC payments likely to evolve, and how will central banks solve the privacy dilemma associated with rCBDCs?
Watch on-demand
Session #15 Guests
 | Michael Greco Digital Dollar Project Michael Greco is the Policy Research Director for the Digital Dollar Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to encouraging public discussion on the advantages and challenges of a potential U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC) – or a “Digital Dollar”. In his current role, Michael supports the Digital Dollar Project’s mission to explore a digital dollar through research and pilot programs and to inform policymakers and the public with real-world data and research. Michael previously worked on public policy issues related to digital assets for R3, an enterprise distributed ledger software company. He also led Accenture’s government relations work on public policy issues related to digital currencies, artificial intelligence, and other technology and financial services issues. Michael started his career on Capitol Hill working for U.S. Senator Tammy Balwin and earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Hofstra University.
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 | Robert Zev Mahari MIT Connection Science & Engineering Robert Mahari is pursuing a joint JD/PhD degree at Harvard Law School and the MIT Media Lab’s Human Dynamics Group. His work focuses on how technology can and should affect the practice of law by broadening access to justice and increasing judicial efficacy. Robert’s work includes exploring how Central Bank Digital Currencies can be designed to be inherently resilient to money laundering, creating theoretical and empirical models to understand the effect of third-party litigation funding on access to justice, designing natural language processing techniques to predict judicial precedent and proposing computational antitrust devices to promote competitiveness in data-driven markets. As part of his research, Robert collaborates with private and public entities around the world to prototype computational legal solutions to challenges ranging from modelling social inflation to designing blockchain systems for government grant disbursement.
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Missed our previous sessions? Watch the series on-demand
 | 22nd March 2023 With: Michael Greco (Digital Dollar Project) and Robert Zev Mahari (MIT University)
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 | 23rd February 2023 Project mBridge: Real-Value Transactions through a Cross-border CBDC Platform With: Daniel Eidan (Bank for International Settlements) & Ousmène Jacques Mendang (Accenture)
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 | 12th January 2023 Digital Currencies: Coexistence or Competition With: Catherine Gu (Visa) & Carmelle Cadet (EMTECH)
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 | 8th December 2022 CBDC Interoperability in Cross-border payments With: John Kiff (Satoshi Capital Advisors) & Simon Chantry (Bitt)
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 | 17th November 2022 CBDC Interoperability, Benefits and Implications- A U.S. Perspective With: Commissioner Hester M. Peirce (The U.S Securities and Exchange Commission) & Patrick McCarty (Georgetown University)
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 | 5th October 2022 Gaining Momentum: Options for access to and interoperability of CBDCs worldwide With: Anneke Kosse & Illaria Mattei (Bank for International Settlements)
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 | 29th September 2022 What CBDC features will drive consumers’ and merchants’ adoption? With: John Velissarios (The Digital Dollar Project) & Raoul Herborg (G+D)
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 | 10th August 2022 Aligning Technology and Policy: The Oliver Wyman Forum and Amazon Web Services (AWS) Report With: Larissa de Lima (Oliver Wyman Forum) & Erica Salinas (Amazon Web Services)
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 | 20th July 2022 CBDC Motivations and Challenges – A Perspective from Asia-Pacific With: Masaki Bessho (Bank of Japan) & Dr Steven Hu (Standard Chartered Bank)
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 | 30th June 2022 Central Banks and Private Money: The Past, Present and Future With: John Kiff (Satoshi Capital Advisors) & Harish Natarajan (The World Bank)
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 | 18th May 2022 CBDC Motivations and Challenges – A Perspective from Latin America With: Ludmilla Butueau Allien (Bank of the Republic of Haiti) & Dr Adolfo Sarmiento (Central Bank of Uruguay) |
 | 28th April 2022 CBDC Motivations and Challenges- A Perspective from the UK & Canada With: Dr Francisco Rivadeneyra (Bank of Canada) & Mehregan Ameri (Bank of England) |
 | 16th March 2022 HSBC & IBM’s Joint CBDC Project With: Mark Williamson (HSBC) & Soren Mortensen (IBM) |
 | 15th February 2022 Critical policy issues & Lessons Learned from UK and China With: Jean-Michel Godeffroy (JMG Consulting) & Keith Bear (University of Cambridge) |
 | 11th January 2022 Quantifying the Impact of CBDCs With: Dr Kimmo Soramäki (FNA) & Dr Carlos León (FNA) |