The Bank of Canada is looking to hire an economist focused on digital currencies and financial technologies as it continues to build up its expertise ahead of any possible CBDC implementation.
In a job posting, the BoC says it wants an economist to join its "large-scale" fintech research project, a key part of which will be contingency planning for a CBDC.
In February, the central bank stated that it has no plans to issue its own digital currency, but said this could change if cash usage drops off significantly or private options such as the Facebook-backed Libra gain widespread adoption.
However, it is still staffing up a CBDC programme it says is of "major social significance". The economist job ad comes after a June effort to recruit a project manager.
The economist job will entail monitoring and analysing developments in electronic money and payments, including CBDCs, cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and crypto exchanges. Knowledge of bitcoin, ethereum and traditional payment systems are described as "nice-to-have".
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