Last week Federal Reserve Vice Chair Lael Brainard warned House lawmakers about the risks of moving too slowly to issue a central bank digital currency, or a so-called “digital dollar,” saying that failure to act could jeopardize the dollar’s status as the world’s dominant currency. Not everyone thinks a central bank digital currency, or CBDC, would be…

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The United States is seriously planning to issue FedCoin, a CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency), following the lead of the Chinese government and others around the world. I have previously spelled out why we don’t need Fedcoin, basically because the currency of the United States is already largely digital. In this article I argue that not only…

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Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies have roared back over the last month after a China and Elon Musk-induced sell-off. The bitcoin price last night broke above $50,000 per bitcoin for the first time since May. Meanwhile, double-digit gains among other major cryptocurrencies—including ethereum, Binance’s BNB, cardano, and Ripple’s XRP—helped the combined crypto market value climb to over $2.1 trillion, up from…

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In January of this year, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System issued a research and analysis paper titled Money and Payments: The US Dollar in the Age of Digital Transformation, in which the Fed explores potential benefits and risks of a US central bank digital currency (CBDC). The Fed defines a CBDC for purposes…

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Legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives seeking “to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to develop and pilot digital dollar technologies that replicate the privacy-respecting features of physical cash.” H.R. 7231 — cited as the Electronic Currency and Secure Hardware Act or simply the ECASH Act — was introduced March 28 by…

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