Treasury Department Recommends Exploring the Development of Digital Dollar by Central Bank

According to a media report on Sep 15th, the Biden administration is taking an important stride forward in creating the digital dollar, which is a central bank digital currency (CBDC) contributing to the reinforcement of Washington’s leadership in the global financial system.The White House noted that President Biden issued an executive order this March requesting studies on regulatory approaches of digital assets by various agencies, which subsequently submitted nine reports involving impacts of cryptocurrency on financial markets, environment, innovation, and economic system.

 Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the recommendation of her department was that the US should enhance its efforts to advance CBDC’s policy and technology research to get prepared when CBDC is determined to be in the national interest. She said at a teleconference on Thursday that the current payment system was either too slow or too expensive.

 Nonpartisan think tank of the Atlantic Council stated that 105 countries accounting for over 95% of global GDP were exploring or have developed a CBDC. The council also found that Washington and London fell well behind in terms of the creation of the digital dollar or its equivalent.

 The US Treasury Department, Justice Department, Consumer Finance Protection Bureau and the Securities and Exchange Commission and other agencies have been required to deal with various concerns about the risks, development, and usage of digital assets. These agencies will successively release related reports in coming months.