Fed governor says CBDC is still “a problem-seeking solution”

Chris Waller, a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, doesn’t appear to think about it mandatory for the US authorities to develop a central financial institution digital forex.

Speaking to Michael Strain of the American Enterprise Institute at present, Waller stated he was “very skeptical” a few central financial institution digital forex, or CBDC, that solves issues within the present fee system. He believes that the US authorities ought to solely intervene with a potential digital resolution if there is vital market failure.

“I still don’t believe that CBDCs will solve existing problems that other initiatives have not addressed in a timely and effective manner,” stated Waller.

He added:

“The private sector has developed cheaper fee alternate options to compete with the banking system, so it appears pointless for the Federal Reserve to create a CBDC to scale back funds. [systems] we’ll see on the financial institution […] Facilitating sooner funds is not a compelling cause to start out a CBDC. “

In particular, the Fed governor said he believed the government should not compete with the private sector as the potential benefits of CBDCs could be outweighed by privacy concerns and are unlikely to solve the problem. Waller cites a 2019 survey by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation that estimates that only 1% of US households are out of bank deposits and might be interested in using CBDCs.

Related: Fed President Says Stablecoins Need More Regulation, Talks About CBDC

However, Waller also expressed concern about possible CBDC designs that would allow the Fed to access “huge quantities of knowledge” from account holders. According to the Fed governor, the system will become an attractive target for hackers and is similar to China’s monitoring of its citizens’ transactions with the digital yuan.

“CBDC is still an answer to an issue.”

Waller’s comments come two months after Fed chairman Jerome Powell said the government agency would issue a document on CBDCs in the United States, calling on the public to comment on “points associated to CBDCs within the United States.” to express. and information security. “Powell said the paper will be released this summer, giving the Fed about six weeks to release.

Unlike Waller, Powell’s public statements about CBDCs appear to be more measured, often saying that “doing the suitable factor is extra necessary than the primary” when it comes to introducing a technical dollar number. The President of the Dallas Federal Reserve, Robert Kaplan, also said in November that “it is necessary for the Fed to concentrate on growing a digital forex”.

Other US lawmakers have advocated CBDCs, which compare digital currencies issued by the central bank to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC). Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said in June that “nice promise” tokens that CBDCs labeled as “reputable digital public cash” could “not provide digital cash” like cryptocurrencies.