By "hostility to cash" we refer to the recent trend of incentivizing individuals towards a (privately managed) digital payment system driven by banking and financial sectors and supported by Governments. COVID-19 has on the one hand boosted this movement, with false messages about banknotes...

This article provides a timely update on central bank digital currencies and the digital euro in the wake of the new executive orders, signed by US President Donald Trump, which establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve and a US Digital Asset Stockpile on the one hand, and ban central bank digital...

Germany's bank-based financial system provides a high level of financial inclusion, measured by bank outreach and use of financial services. However, the most vulnerable individuals and small enterprises in Germany tend to be excluded or credit constrained. The quality of financial inclusion is...