Celent has published a new report titled Data Tariffs 2.0: DLT in a Mulitpolar World. The report was written by John Dwyer, a Senior Analyst in Celent’s Securities & Investments practice.

It is estimated that half of the value of the global economy will be created digitally by 2025. The digital economy fundamentally challenges international borders; hence there is the potential for a ramp-up in digital trade wars as new technology such as distributed ledger technology (DLT) moves from concept to reality.

Data localization rules have been unfolding for some time. The assumption that regulators will permit the free movement of data across boundaries for DLT is open to question. Indeed, it may trigger a new phase of data tariffs. For key jurisdictions such as China, central bank digital currency has implications for data localization, international payments access, and capital outflows. These issues have financial, political, and geopolitical significance.

“The race is on to commercialize a DLT use case, but the regulatory issues are acute. As DLT moves from concepts to pilot stage, understanding different regulators’ perspectives will provide critical insights to the emerging global regulatory framework,” Dwyer said.

“Governments and central banks globally are positioning themselves for digital legal tender, and they will want absolute sovereignty over key data and access to any global payments system. The implications for DLT from a regulatory and architecture perspective remain unclear, but they will be profound,” he added.