while managing as far as possible its costs. not all countries that had joined the single market also joined the euro, of course. some countries, such as denmark, pegged their exchange rates to the euro. for other countries, the single market represented the gateway to the euro. five additional countries10 joined the euro in its first decade and three more in its second, but other smaller economies have stayed out so far. finally, there is the united kingdom, the only large economy inside the single market that chose to stay out of the euro area. the united kingdom is a particular case, not only for political reasons but also for structural reasons, such as the relatively low exchange rate pass - through it 3 / 10 bis central bankers'speeches had in the past. 11 the benefits of one market, one money today we should consider what gains have been made as a result of having one market with one money. with the euro protecting the single market, trade growth has increased, with intra - eu exports rising from 13 % of eu gdp in 1992 to 20 % today. intra - euro area trade has risen both in absolute terms and as a share of total trade with advanced economies12, even as emerging market economies have entered the global market. foreign direct investment ( fdi ) flows within europe have also grown13, with inflows from the rest of the eu to italy increasing by 36 % from 1992 to 2010. 14 behind the growth of intra - eu trade lies perhaps an even more important development, which is the much closer intertwining of european economies through the deepening of value chains. since the start of the 2000s, supply chain linkages between countries within the eu have intensified at a faster pace and were more resilient during the crisis, compared with their supply chain linkages with countries outside the single market. 15 the removal of customs barriers as part of the single market agenda has facilitated multiple border crossings during the production process. europe - wide standards have boosted intra - eu value chains by providing more certainty for firms about the quality of production in other countries and encouraging the fragmentation of the production process that is typical of value chains. 16 and the single currency has further enhanced the process by eliminating the costs of foreign exchange payments and settlements and of hedging exchange rate risk. participation in these value chains has brought gains for all countries, especially in terms of productivity spillovers. the imported inputs used in value chains generate a tangible boost to productivity. 17 and higher productivity in turn leads

##ovators for how they will be treated by regulators when entering the market. but while same risk, same regulation may seem obvious, as payments chains increasingly continue to involve new entities, our regulatory framework may require some adjustment to meet this principle. responding to innovation around the corner some of the most high profile potential changes in the way we pay haven ’ t happened yet. the new “ global currency ” proposed by facebook and partners, libra, generated headlines across the globe when it was announced last summer. other proposed private ‘ stablecoins ’ continue to emerge. the language some of these proposals use to describe themselves is grand. libra promises to “ reinvent money. transform the global economy. so people everywhere can live better lives. ” in practice, stablecoin arrangements would use cryptoassets ( known as coins or tokens ) for transactions currently processed by retail or wholesale payments systems. existing crypto assets – for example bitcoin – have so far proven too volatile to become widely accepted as payment. stablecoins propose to address this by using asset backing to establish and maintain a stable value. it is concievable that some stablecoins – particularly if integrated into existing online platforms or social media – could achieve widespread adoption very quickly. in india, google tez reported having 50m users 10 months after its launch in september 2017. in china, alipay and wechat pay by some measures handled more than $ 37trn in mobile payments in 2018. as such it will be important to adopt an appropriate regulatory framework for stablecoins in advance of their launch. if it quacks like a payment system … stablecoins pose two unique challenges for regulators : the first is that we need to decide how to regulate them. proposed use cases for stablecoins vary. and some stablecoins may appear to do more than one currently regulated economic function. all speeches are available online at www. bankofengland. co. uk / news / speeches but many stablecoin arangements will facilitate the transfer of ‘ money ’ for buying goods and services – effectively substituting all or part of existing payments chains. while my ability to pay for coffee with my phone may feel innovative, it still ultimately relies on card payment - a payment method that has existed for well over half a century. stablecoins could mean that in future, when i tap my phone at a coffee shop, i may be able to pay with a token that provides a new