, they implement themselves, based on the terms specified by the parties. smart contracts may allow for what is called " atomic settlement. " rather than relying on each party to separately carry out its leg of the transaction, smart contracts can effectively combine the two, or more, legs of the transaction into a single unified " atomic " act that is executed by the smart contract. this may be an additional robust way to achieve delivery - versus - payment ( " dvp " ) and payment - versus - payment ( " pvp " ) functionality, such that one leg of a transaction settles if and only if the other leg settles as well. atomic settlement is useful because it can mitigate settlement and counterparty credit risks : it ensures that the buyer will not pay if the seller does not deliver ; and conversely, that the seller will not deliver if the buyer does not pay. in fact, private sector institutions are testing use cases to better understand the benefits and risks of this technology. firms have executed foreign - exchange trades using blockchain technology with smart contracts in an attempt to improve efficiencies. separately, financial institutions have used blockchain to facilitate intraday repo transactions. parties to these transactions may have more flexibility as to when the transactions settle, which in turn has the potential to create additional capital and liquidity efficiency. and blockchain's atomic settlement functionality may serve as another way to achieve an important risk mitigant : using repurchase agreements as an example, the repo " seller " can have confidence that it will receive the specified loan amount in exchange for the collateral it conveys ; while the repo " buyer " knows it will receive the specified collateral. 2 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches these efforts are still in early stages, but i expect that as functionality expands with more currencies, eligible securities, and new products, there will be more participation and growth. that isn't to say that there aren't risks associated with tokenization and the use of smart contracts : smart contracts can have bugs and potential cyber vulnerabilities ; and instantaneous settlement raises its own set of risks. but there is considerable promise, and i look forward to seeing what private sector participants come up with to potentially enhance the way traditional transactions are conducted. artificial intelligence the second area i will discuss is artificial intelligence. can you go anywhere without hearing about ai? ai, as i am sure you know, is currently seeing a surge in interest thanks

markets and there is still much progress that is required in many emerging markets on these fronts. high inflation can destroy an economy and result in enormous hardship for everyone involved. the benefits achieved through greater central bank credibility are substantial. fortunately, economic forces have led to better central bank behavior around the world during the past decade. if citizens and politicians lose sight of these benefits and the forces that have led to enhanced currency competition are thwarted, these gains could prove fleeting. i believe that we must continue to work hard to lock in the gains achieved through anti - inflation credibility to ensure that the conquest will be long lasting. the lessons of the high inflation episodes are too important to forget.