Payments are increasingly being digitalised, driven by the emergence of new technologies, including crypto-assets, which aim to be both a means of payment and an investment vehicle. What impact will these developments have on central banks, which are responsible for ensuring the stability and smooth functioning of the financial system as well as for monetary stability?
Are you a student? Eco Notepad invites you to share your analysis and participate in the debate.
For the 7th Eco Notepad Competition, the Banque de France is inviting students in France to write an essay on "Currency in the digital age of crypto-assets: challenges and opportunities for central banks".
The two winning entries will be selected based on the following criteria: rigour and relevance of economic reasoning, quality of writing, clarity and logic of presentation, educational value and originality. Entries should preferably be in French. The two best entries will be published on the Banque de France website and will receive a prize of EUR 3,000 for the winner and EUR 1,500 for the runner-up.
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The awards ceremony will take place in Lyon during the Journées de l'Économie (Economy Days) scheduled for 4–6 November 2025.
Prizes in previous Eco Notepad competitions:
2024:
1st prize: Fragmentation and “connector countries”: is Europe being bypassed? By Eleonore de Bruce, student in Corporate & Public Management Masters at Sciences Po and Pierre-Alain Tschanz, Masters student at ESCP Business school
2nd prize: Critical metals supply and economic fragmentation: the case of batteries By Valentin Sayagh, student in the first year of preparation for administrative competitions at Sciences Po Paris and Wessim Jouini, student in Master 2 Economic analysis and policy at HEC.
2023:
1st prize: Actual vs. incurred inflation: an unequal sharing of the burden by Thaïs Massei, Graduate of ENSAE and Public Policy Masters Student at Sciences Po
2nd prize: Inflation’s impact on green and brown firms and its effect on the green transition Pedram Pourabbasvafa, PhD student at Panthéon-Sorbonne University
Submission deadline: 20 July 2025
Registration and submission of documents
Please send your student certificate, signed GDPR consent form and your written entry by email to concours-bloc-notes@banque-france.fr, or via the B2Ideas platform.
If you have any questions, just send an email to: concours-bloc-notes@banque-france.fr
Updated on the 1st of July 2025