Macedonian Monetary Sovereignty in Times of Blockchain Revolution

Abstract

The adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia established the Macedonian central bank as one of the pillars of the Macedonian monetary sovereignty. In the first years of the country’s independence the central bank was facing a unique challenge in establishing the Macedonian national currency the denar which was done in a period of transition of the Macedonian economy from socialistic to market economy amid wars and political instabilities in the region. Thirty years after the monetary independence, the monetary sovereignty is challenged not only by the process of creation and use of private money i.e. cryptocurrencies but also from the process of creation of digital central bank money called central bank digital currencies. After a brief review of the historical moment in establishment of the Macedonian monetary sovereignty the text will discuss different questions related to the effects of digitalization of money on the Macedonian monetary system and the challenges for the Macedonian central bank in this respect.