THE CHINESE DIGITAL CURRENCY AND THE FUTURE OF THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY AND FINANCIAL SYSTEM

ABSTRACT This study discusses the role currencies play in the power relations of States regarding private agents and their peers in the international system, based on the case of the Chinese digital currency. The “e-Renminbi” analysis starts by understanding that States are the basic unit of the international system, that they dispute power among themselves, and that their currencies simultaneously manifest and produce power. This study argues that existing evidence fails to warrant any definite diagnosis that the “e-Renminbi” will represent an imminent rupture in the dollar-centered international monetary and financial system.