Newly elected President Donald Trump’s pick for Treasury Secretary doesn’t think the US should launch a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
During his nomination hearing on Thursday, Scott Bessent told the Senate Finance Committee that the US, unlike other countries, will not gain much from the rollout of a digital dollar.
“On CBDCs, I see no reason for the US to have a central bank digital currency. In my view, a central bank digital currency is intended for countries that have no other investment alternatives.”
A CBDC is a digital form of a country’s fiat currency, regulated by a central bank.
Bessent says holders of other currencies, especially the Chinese yuan (CNY) or renminbi (RMB), have little to invest in. According to him, this is not the case with the US dollar.
“Many of these countries are doing this out of necessity, whereas the U.S., if you hold a U.S. dollar, you could hold a variety of very safe U.S. assets.”
In 2022, the Federal Reserve released a discussion paper exploring the pros and cons of a potential CBDC, but the central bank has not yet made any decision to implement a digital dollar.
Trump also does not support the idea of pursuing a CBDC. Last year, he told a crowd in New Hampshire that he would block the creation of a central bank digital currency.
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