The Treasury Department’s Under Secretary for Domestic Finance, Nellie Liang, said the administration is developing technology that would help create a central bank digital currency (CBDC). That bank would be used in the issuance of a digital version of U.S. currency. The Federal Reserve would issue a digital dollar, usable in the same way as regular dollars are employed.
The Federal Reserve will not create cryptocurrency unless directed by Congress, Chair Jerome Powell said. Members of Congress appear divided over the issue and action on a CBDC is not seen as likely this year.
“Even as policy deliberations continue, we are engaging in the technological development of a CBDC so that we would be able to move forward rapidly if a CBDC were determined to be in the national interest,” the undersecretary said.
