From Cryptocurrencies to CBDCs: A Scoping–Integrative Review Proposing a Digital Money Ecosystem Taxonomy (DMET)

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Abstract
Digital money has transformed from a technological experiment into a central concern of monetary economics, financial regulation, and public policy. Despite rapid growth in cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and tokenized deposits, the literature remains fragmented across disciplines, with limited cross-cutting synthesis. This article adopts a scoping–integrative review methodology, combining systematic database (Scopus and Web of Science) searches with targeted retrieval of policy and institutional sources (BIS, IMF, Financial Stability Board (FSB), ECB, and national central bank repositories), covering the period 2008–2025, with integrative synthesis of academic, policy, and regulatory sources following PRISMA-ScR reporting principles. The review identifies four competing trust mechanisms underpinning digital money: algorithmic trust associated primarily with cryptocurrencies, private reserve backing trust (stablecoins), sovereign trust underpinning CBDCs, and regulated institutional intermediation supporting tokenized deposits. The proposed digital money ecosystem taxonomy (DMET) classifies digital money instruments across fourteen institutional, governance, technological, monetary, and regulatory dimensions, enabling systematic comparison of cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, CBDCs, and tokenized deposits. Future monetary systems will be hybrid, combining public and private digital money within layered governance arrangements. Interoperability, privacy, programmability, and cross-border governance represent the most critical unresolved policy and research challenges.

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