“Eventually,” A Digital Dollar Could Be Issued But Fed Is Still A “Long Way” From Deciding On It, Says A US Central Bank Official

Dallas Federal Reserve Robert Kaplan said the US central bank could see it eventually issuing its own digital currency, calling it the “last mile” in the digitization of the payment system. “I would imagine in the years ahead — it's something the Fed is actively working on now — and I can see reasons why that will eventually get developed; China is already doing their own experiment with it," Kaplan said in a virtual appearance at Texas Tech. Still, the US Fed is a “long way” from deciding on a digital dollar and is currently studying the issues such as its potential impact on banks. The US central bank is working with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for a digital dollar, which Chair Jerome Powell said is “far more important” to get right than fast. “I think that’s one of the stronger arguments in its favor — that … you wouldn’t need stablecoins, you wouldn’t need cryptocurrencies if you had a digital U.S. currency,” Powell said recently. Meanwhile, Fed Governor Christopher J. Waller is skeptical of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and believes it is rather a solution in search of a problem. Other central banks are also taking similar steps with the European Central Bank starting a two-year investigation into the feasibility of the digital euro.