Federal Reserve Government Christopher Waller opposes the US Fed issuing a CBDC. During a speech on Friday, Waller explains that the CBDC is not necessary and the factors supporting it are “not technological.”
“The factors supporting the primacy of the dollar are not technological, but include the ample supply and liquid market for U.S. Treasury securities and other debt and the long-standing stability of the U.S. economy and political system,” Waller said in prepared remarks delivered at Harvard University. “No other country is fully comparable with the United States on those fronts, and a CBDC would not change that.”
Supporters of a CBDC issued by the Fed claim that it would address issues such as digital theft and fraud. However, Waller is skeptical of these arguments that it would benefit anything at all.
“Meaningful efforts are underway at the international level to improve cross-border payments in many ways, with the vast majority of these improvements coming not from CBDCs but improvements to existing payment systems,” said Waller.
Some governors on the Federal Reserve Board have shown interest in helping develop a CBDC, as well as members of the US Treasury. U.S Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen recently that it is “certainly worth” Congress developing a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
No definitive ruling has been made on the creation of a Fed CBDC yet in the US. Other countries have begun experimenting with the idea of a digital central currency, such as China with the digital Yuan.