Central banks also take an interest in alternative types of money, even though they would at first sight fall outside the ambit of the central bank’s usual competences. Central banks may have more than one reason for this. For starters, a considerable increase in the quantity and use of alternative money may undermine the efficacy of the central bank’s monetary policy.
If the market players were to massively move away from the use of banknotes and deposits in euro, a central bank could find it more difficult to attain its objective of price stability.