The Digital Dollar Is Now High Priority For The Fed

Dion Rabouin   Thu, February 25, 2021, 8:43 AM

The U.S. is starting to get serious about a central-bank-backed digital currency, with recent comments from top officials laying out the strongest support yet.

Driving the news: On Tuesday Fed chair Jerome Powell told Congress that developing a digital dollar is a "high priority project for us," but added that there are "significant technical and policy questions."

On Wednesday Fed researchers released a report titled "Preconditions for a general-purpose central bank digital currency," detailing just what some of those questions might be.

Why it matters: More consumers and financial institutions are transitioning toward digital payments, putting greater pressure on policymakers to ensure the dollar's status as the world's reserve currency remains intact.

The big picture: Powell's "high priority" language and the ensuing report reflect a shift in rhetoric and action from the Fed, which had previously urged caution and patience on the development of a digital dollar.

Treasury Secretary and former Fed chair Janet Yellen had similar comments earlier this week, saying, “It makes sense for central banks to be looking at” the issue.

“Too many Americans don’t have access to easy payments systems and banking accounts, and I think this is something that a digital dollar, a central bank digital currency, could help with. It could result in faster, safer and cheaper payments, which I think are important goals.”

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https://news.yahoo.com/digital-dollar-now-high-priority-134328594.html

Fed Chairman Powell: We Will Engage the Public on the Digital Dollar This Year

Nathan DiCamillo  Wed, February 24,

Nearly every time an elected official has asked U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell about the digital dollar, he’s emphasized caution and risk to the stability of the U.S. financial system.

Wednesday, however, Powell went further while speaking before the House Committee on Financial Services, saying the U.S. central bank would “engage with the public” on the digital dollar this year, giving a timeline to the central bank digital currency’s development for the first time.

“This is going to be an important year,” Powell said of the digital dollar project. “This is going to be the year that we engage with the public pretty actively including some public events that we are working on, which I’m not going to announce today.”

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https://news.yahoo.com/fed-chairman-powell-engage-public-164552453.html

Fed's Powell: Digital Dollar May Require Some Congressional Approval

Wed, February 24, 2021, Jerome Powell

(Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday said some form of congressional authorization may be needed for the central bank to proceed with any development and roll-out of a digital version of the U.S. dollar.

The Fed expects this year to be an important one for the development of a digital U.S. currency, Powell said in response to a lawmaker's questions during testimony before the House Financial Services Committee, especially in its engagement with the U.S. public on the matter.

To continue reading, please go to the original article here:

https://news.yahoo.com/feds-powell-digital-dollar-may-165032386.html