(Washington) The recent fall in cryptocurrencies highlights “the need for regulatory safeguards”, according to the new president of the American central bank, Lael Brainard, specifying that the institution has not yet made its decision on the creation or not of a cryptodollar.
Posted at 6:45 p.m.
“These events show the need for clear regulatory safeguards,” Lael Brainard must declare Thursday during a hearing before the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, the text of which was published on Wednesday.
Lael Brainard, who previously served as Fed governor, took up her new role as vice-chairman on Monday.
“The actions we take now, whether on the regulatory framework or on a digital dollar, will need to be robust for the future evolution of the financial system,” she will also say.
Washington is considering the creation of a digital dollar. President Joe Biden asked the Treasury Department in March to submit a report on “the future of money” within six months.
The Fed, which has been thinking about it for several years and published a report in January, the first stage of a public consultation, is for its part responsible for studying the stages that should be put in place.
“No decision has been made as to whether a US central bank digital currency (CBDC) will be part of that future,” Lael Brainard clarified.
“We recognize that there are risks in not acting, just as there are risks in acting,” she added, adding that “it is important that the United States play a leading role plan in developing standards governing international digital financial transactions involving (central bank digital currencies)”.
If successful, the construction of the digital dollar could revolutionize global finance, over which the greenback reigns supreme.
An “official” digital currency is the dematerialized equivalent of coins and notes, which are actually direct claims on central banks.
It can therefore in theory be used without going through a bank, which is currently necessary for dematerialized payments.
States want to avoid leaving this space to private actors, or to foreign powers.