My name is Richard Yifan Zhou, PhD Candidate at the Department of Finance, Queen Mary University of London. I ever held research affiliates at the Boao Forum for Asia, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Peking University, contributing to several projects for the People’s Bank of China and the Hong Kong Green Finance Association.

I hold an M.S. in Finance from the School of Finance, Renmin University, and was a Visiting Doctoral Student at the Business School, Imperial College London.

Research Interests

Debt Management, International Political Economy, and Governance

Working Papers

1. The Digital Reconstruction of U.S. Financial Dominance: Challenge and Governance of Non-Sovereign Digital Assets (invited to MPSA, PSA, BISA, Junior IO, GSIPE, and Renmin SISCDS)
   Abstract

   This paper studies whether dollar-backed digital liquidity reinforces U.S. financial dominance. Using monthly data from July 2015 to December 2024, I estimate a seven-variable BSVAR with a Minnesota prior and Bayesian MCMC inference, and identify digital-asset liquidity shocks with post-estimation sign and zero restrictions. The results show that the DXY response follows a two-stage pattern: under an inflow shock, both Yield 3M and DXY fall on impact, then DXY inverts to a statistically positive response over the next horizons; the outflow shock mirrors this pattern with opposite signs after impact. Counterfactual channel decompositions indicate that the transmission to DXY is primarily stablecoin-led, whereas the Bitcoin channel is quantitatively smaller and less persistent. The evidence supports a digital dollar cycle in which stablecoin liquidity operates as an on-chain extension of the broader dollar system.
2. Pricing China Sovereign Bonds: A Bayesian No-Arbitrage Approach
   Abstract
3. Institutional Design Shapes Digital Asset Governance under Regulatory Uncertainty
   Abstract

   Institutional design shapes how states govern digital asset markets under conditions of regulatory uncertainty. This article develops a structured, focused comparison of the United States, the European Union, and Hong Kong using official legal and regulatory materials from 2019--2025 together with scholarship on the regulatory state, delegation, policy design, policy capacity, regulatory intermediaries, and digital-finance governance. The article argues that the three jurisdictions have converged on the need to govern centralized intermediaries, but they do so through distinct governance modes. Fragmented, multi-agency authority in the United States produces contested perimeter-setting and greater reliance on ex post enforcement. Legislative harmonization in the European Union produces clearer categories and ex ante authorization, but at the cost of slower formal adaptation. Hong Kong's single-regulator licensing model closes the perimeter more quickly and coherently, but concentrates governance on centralized gatekeepers rather than the broader protocol layer. The article contributes to governance scholarship by showing that cross-border differences in digital asset regulation are explained less by technology alone than by the organization of public authority, policy capacity, and the choice between supervisory and enforcement-led control.