FED Officials Are Skeptical About The Digital Currency

Fed officials are skeptical about the digital currency issue. Authorities are still debating on the necessity of the digital currency.

Fed Chairman Christopher Waller said he has doubts about how necessary it is for the Federal Reserve to develop digital currencies. Speaking at the American Enterprise Institute, Waller said, "Although central bank digital currencies have attracted a lot of attention in the US and other countries, I have my doubts that a digital currency from the Fed will solve any problems in the US payment systems." This issue came to the fore when Fed Chairman Jerome Powell announced in May that the central bank would prepare a study outlining its views on digital payments. Powell also stated that the public would be consulted on issues related to payments, financial inclusion, data privacy and information security. On the other hand, the Boston Fed is currently working on digital payment technologies with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge (MIT). However, there are different approaches to the issue within the FED. Randal Quarles, the Fed's Vice Chairman of Audit, explained in his speech on June 28 that the Fed’s digital currency could bring "significant and robust" risks, while the benefits were uncertain.