Interdisciplinary Lecture Series / Citizen LectureWednesday, April 15, 2026, through July 15, 2026, 6:00 p.m.Technical University of DarmstadtLarge Lecture Hall in Schloss (S 313/30)Link to the video recordings to follow
An event organized by the Institute of Philosophy (FB 02) and the Department of Legal Policy regarding the Digital Financial Sector (FB 01) in cooperation with the eFin & Democracy discourse project at the Center Responsible Digitality
We are living in an era of digital transformation. A gradual yet radical transformation is taking place right before our eyes, driven by our everyday interactions with money. Whereas a few decades ago, money in everyday life was something physical, something that changed hands, today it has largely become dematerialized: According to studies by the ECB, cash is playing an increasingly minor role even at the “point of sale,” whereas cashless payments are on the rise.
Change represents a compression of time, yet it also opens up new possibilities. However, to analyze these possibilities for change, we must first examine the developments themselves, their drivers, and their implications. This is particularly true when considering the digitization of money and payment systems.
Money enters the world in the form of either central bank money or commercial bank money. While central banks issue cash and create an (artificial) demand for digital central bank money through reserve requirements imposed on commercial banks, commercial banks create liquidity by granting loans. This relatively stable system was supplemented nearly 20 years ago by “cryptocurrencies” such as Bitcoin or Tether – here, digital money is created either by networks or by companies. If we consider payment systems alongside existing digital money, it becomes clear that a significant portion of transactions in the digital age are essentially processed through private service providers, and that money is often created by private actors. In both cases, the question arises as to whether this should remain the case or whether state institutions should play a more proactive role in shaping payment systems and/or the creation of money.
The lecture series serves a descriptive purpose and aims to be a space for debate and dialogue where various positions on the (appropriate) societal handling of (digital) money can be expressed and engage with one another. Accordingly, the series features both researchers and practitioners.
Program
15.04.
Volker Wieland
(Stiftungsprofessor für Monetäre Ökonomie und geschäftsführender Direktor des Institute for Monetary and Financial Stability, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt)
Ist der Euro für zukünftige Herausforderungengut gewappnet?
22.04.
Co-Pierre Georg
(Professor of Practice in Digital Finance und Direktor des Blockchain Center an der Frankfurt School of Finance & Management)
Souveränität im digitalen Zeitalter
29.4.
Martijn van der Linden (Professor für New Finance, Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaften Den Haag)
Restructuring Europe’s Monetary Backbone in a Fragmenting World
06.05.
Manfred Richels
(Head of Corporate Payments and Digital Assets, Deutscher Sparkassen- und Giroverband)
Innovative Geldformen – sind Stablecoins, Deposit Tokens etc. Hype, Hope oder Solution?
13.05.
Philipp Maume
(Professor for Corporate Governance and Capital Markets Law, Technische Universität München)
Das DLT-Pilot-Regime – (nun doch) der Schritt in die digitale Zukunft der Kapitalmärkte?
20.05.
Katharina Pistor
(Professorin für Vergleichende Rechtswissenschaft an der Columbia Law School)
Titel folgt
27.05.
Martina Metzger
(Professorin für Monetäre Ökonomik an der Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Recht Berlin)
Digitalisierung von Geld: Wettbewerb und Koexistenz
03.06.
Petra Gehring & Andreas Kerkemeyer (Professorin für Philosophie / Professor für “Rechtspolitik für den digitalisierten Finanzsektor”, Technische Universität Darmstadt)
Diskussion und Zwischenbilanz
10.06.
Roland Broemel(Professor für Öffentliches Recht, Wirtschafts- und Währungsrecht, Finanzmarktregulierung und Rechtstheorie, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt)
Souveränität, Autonomie und Geld
17.06.
Cederic Meier
(Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter am Institut für Grundlagen des Rechts, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen)
Der digitale Euro und die Europäische Währungsverfassung
24.06.
Frank Engster(Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter der Hellen Panke e.V. – Rosa Luxemburg-Stiftung Berlin)
Kapitalismus zweiter Ordnung? Die Formen von Geld und Kapital, Arbeit und Ware im post-industriellen Zeitalter
01.07.
Cornelia Manger-Nestler(Professorin für Recht, insbesondere Deutsches und Internationales Wirtschaftsrecht, Hochschule für Technik, Wirtschaft und Kultur Leipzig)
Rechtsfragen von Digitalgeld: Digitaler Euro, Stablecoins & Co.
08.07.
Martin Diehl(Head of Financial Market Infrastructure, Deutsche Bundesbank)
Digital Finance und die Zukunft der Zentralbanken
15.07.
Stefan Eich(Associate Professor of Government, Georgetown University)
The Democratic Politics of Monetary Design
Zum Diskursprojekt Demokratiefragen des digitalisierten Finanzsektors