Payment token model in cross-border payment infrastructure based on distributed ledger technology

Abstract

Purpose: to develop a model of a payment token based on the analysis of its key economic characteristics, such as backing, price stability, liquidity, and volatility. Methods: heterodox, systemic, structural-functional, institutional, cybernetic, and pragmatic methodological approaches to the formation of a cross-border payment infrastructure based on distributed ledger technology; methods of mathematical modeling: descriptive statistics method, index method, normalization method, numerical optimization methods. Results: a payment token model based on a stable currency basket has been developed. Optimal quantitative characteristics of the payment token for use in a cross-border payment infrastructure based on distributed ledger technology have been determined. For the cross-border payment space of the BRICS countries, it is advisable to use a payment token backed by a stable currency basket consisting of the Chinese yuan, Russian ruble, Indian rupee, and Brazilian real. By minimizing the optimization function, the coefficients of the national currencies in the stable basket backing the payment token of the BRICS cross-border payment space have been determined. An alternative model of a payment token backed by a currency basket of Western countries – the US dollar, euro, pound sterling, and yen – has been developed. It is shown that the volatility of tokens based on currency baskets with weights optimized within the proposed model is significantly lower than the volatility of any single currency. Conclusions and Relevance: in the money circulation subsystem of a cross-border payment infrastructure based on distributed ledger technology, it is rational to employ a payment token that meets the economic characteristics of backing, price stability, liquidity, and low volatility. Such a token will ensure the uninterrupted functioning and accessibility of cross-border settlements for economic agents of the BRICS cross-border payment area. The application of an invariant index of the currency value in the design of the payment token model provides a methodological foundation, independent of the choice of a base currency, for optimizing the numerical indicators of its economic characteristics.