Facebook, China Light Flame Under Fed: Governor Cites Stablecoins Influencing Digital Do…

At the recent Symposium for Future Payments held in Stanford, California on February 5, Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard stressed the importance of remaining “on the frontier of research and policy development regarding CBDC.” The position seems a contrast to the narrative in 2018 when Brainard maintained “there is no compelling demonstrated need for a Fed-issued digital currency.” As powerful states like China press forward in the area of central bank digital currencies, and private enterprises such as Facebook’s Libra also seek to crack the stablecoin market, the U.S. Federal Reserve is more interested in the topic than ever.

Also Read: European Central Bank’s CBDC Borrows Bitcoin’s Pseudo-Anonymity

Fed’s Brainard Takes Elevated Interest in CBDCs

Part of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, Brainard addressed the perceived weaknesses of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies back in May 2018, citing a lack of regulation and…