While I wouldn’t hold my breath, the Fed is finally getting serious about a digital currency of its own—all it took was pressure applied at Davos and recognition that The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) is working on a digital version of the yuan. Another factor is that Britain, Japan, the eurozone (the euro area), Sweden and Switzerland are participating with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) to assess how digital currencies can be used. In the meantime bitcoin and others march on.
Here’s more from an article in Regulation Asia:
“The US Federal Reserve is exploring the feasibility of a CBDC (central bank digital currency) in an apparent bid to maintain the central role of the US dollar in the global financial system.
“Given the dollar’s important role, it is essential that we remain on the frontier of research and policy development regarding CBDC”, Fed governor Lael Brainard said last Wednesday (5 February).
She pointed to a recent survey from BIS (Bank for International Settlements), which found that more than 80 percent of central banks are engaged in some type of CDBC work. In particular, Brainard highlighted reports that China is moving ahead rapidly on plans to issue a digital currency.
Overview by Tim Sloane, VP, Payments Innovation at Mercator Advisory Group
