Fed Chairman Powell provides update on US Federal Reserve digital currency – regulation

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has provided an update on the Fed’s work on the central bank’s digital currency (CBDC) in a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee. While declaring that the Fed is “making strides on technological issues,” Powell stressed that “political issues are just as important.”

Fed Chair Powell on CBDC progress

During a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday, Congressman Stephen Lynch (DMA) asked Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for an update on the Fed’s work on a potential central bank digital currency (CBDC). digital dollars. Congressman Lynch is a ranking member of the Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Fintech and Inclusion.

Regarding the Fed’s status on its CBDC work, Powell said:

We are in constant contact with the public. We also do research on politics and also on technology. We intend to.

Noting that the Fed “generally made comments on the CBDC about a year ago,” Powell said he expects the central bank to do the same going forward, but can’t give a date when that will happen.

When asked about the Fed’s decisions regarding the structure and architecture of a CBDC, the Fed Chair clarified:

We are not yet in the phase of making real decisions. What we do is experimentation in a kind of early stage experimentation.

“How would that work? It works? What is the best technology? What is most efficient? – we are really in the early stages,” he continued.

While emphasizing that the Federal Reserve is “making strides on technological issues,” Chairman Powell stressed that “political issues are just as important.” He concluded:

We haven’t decided yet that this is something the country’s financial system would want or need, so that’s going to be very important.

Meanwhile, several bills have been introduced in Congress to limit the use of a CBDC should the Fed introduce one. Last month, Congressman Tom Emmer (R-MN) enacted the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act, which “prevents the Fed from using a CBDC to implement monetary policy and control the economy.”

Do you think the Fed will eventually issue a central bank digital currency? Let us know in the comment section below.

Kevin Helms

As a student of Austrian economics, Kevin discovered Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open source systems, network effects and the interface between economics and cryptography.

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