The Research and Policy Seminar focuses on a specific topic in the area of monetary policy and the financial sector. This year's topic will be cryptoeconomics and the digitisation of money.

• Introduction to Cryptocurrency Systems
• Crypto Tokens Through the Lense of Monetary Theory - Is Bitcoin Money?
• Competitive Currencies
• Economics of the Blockchain
• Mining Games
• Token Supply Rules from a Monetary Policy Perspective
• Exchange Rate Determination of Cryptocurrencies
• Stable Coins and Exchange Rate Stability
• Risk and Return of Crypto Assets - Is Bitcoin Digital Gold?
• Crypto Assets and Corporate Finance Functions
• Regulating Cryptocurrencies
• Examples of Crypto Tokens: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Monero,...

In January a workshop will be held with Aurel Schubert (Former Director General Statistics, European Central Bank) and an international Guest Lecturer on a current Topic in Monetary Policy and the Financial Sector. In recent years, Jürgen Stark (former chief economist of the ECB) talked about unconventional monetary policy and the inflation outlook, Hans-Helmut Kotz (former member of the executive board, Deutsche Bundesbank) discussed European Banking Union, Stefan Gerlach (former Vice-Governor, Bank of Ireland) talked about the Euro at 20, for example. Students have the opportunity to present their own research projects at the workshop.

The course develops students' skills in monetary and financial economics to

• understand what a cryptocurrency system is and what economic functions it fulfils,
• become familiar with theoretical and empirical models of cryptocurrencies,
• gain insights about the strategic aspects of blockchains as distributed ledgers,
• assess the risks and returns of cryptocurrencies,
• understand the challenges in designing a cryptocurrency system and explore possible solutions,
• identify research gaps in the emerging field of cryptoeconomics and discuss possible approaoches to fill those gaps,
• develop a research idea, set up a research project and write a paper about it,
• work in small research groups as a team,
• present a research project at a workshop with internationally renowned researchers and policymakers,
• get prepared for writing a master's thesis.

Pursuant to the general guidelines issued by the Vice-Rector for Academic Programs and Student Affairs, the attendance requirement is met if a student is present at least 80% of the time.

The course will be a mix of lectures by the instructor, presentations by students, and research conducted by students on a project which is developed over the course of the semester. Key literature and methodological foundations are discussed jointly. Students work in small groups on their research projects, regularly preparing progress reports. The eventual output will be a research paper that is presented at the workshop in January and may serve as the basis for a master's thesis.

Research paper: 50 %

Progress reports and class participation: 25 %

Presentation at the workshop: 25%

Students taking the Research and Policy Seminar must also take the accompanying specialisation course "Money, Credit, Finance".