Fed Chair Jerome Powell Declares No US CBDC Under His Watch.

Jerome Powell, the mind of the national stockpile, stated that he would not be required to issue a central bank digital coin, or CBDC, as long as he remained in office.

The Senate Banking Committee hearing on Tuesday included the statement. Senator Bernie Moreno (R-OH) pleaded with Powell during the hearing to declare that the United States would never have a CBDC as much as he was the Federal Reserve System’s head.

” Yes”, Powell responded.

Moreno called Powell’s one-word answer significant, and said it would stop the United States from “looking like China” in any way. Powell’s answer contradicts previous assertions that the Federal Reserve was thinking about starting a CBDC.

According to Cato Institute Policy Analyst Nicholas Anthony, the Federal Reserve has operated a legal grey area for far too much around the possibility of a U.S. central banks digital currency, or CBDC. The declaration of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to always challenge a CBDC is a welcome change of pace. CBDCs provide risks to financial independence, protection, and markets”.

A CBDC is a modern version of a nation’s official currency that is issued and regulated by its central banks, in contrast to Bitcoin, which is decentralized and operates without the control of the government. Backed by the government, CBDC is a modern equivalent of real money.

Critics have called CBDCs a tracking tool because, unlike dollars, they can be tracked. In the United States, CBDCs became a social problem when Republican politicians called for a moratorium on the government-issued digital money.

During the 2024 Bitcoin Conference, then-candidate Donald Trump promised that if he were reelected, he would get the Treasury Department and other national authorities to “cease and withdraw all actions important” to create a CBDC.

While the United States has debated a modern money, other countries, including Russia, Turkey, and Japan, have now begun experimenting with CBDCs. China somewhat began piloting its CBDC, the modern yuan, in 2020.

Powell’s pledge not to challenge a CBDC underlines how divergent the United States from international changes is as more nations adopt digital currencies.