According to the governor, it would merely be a checking account held at the United States Central Bank. In a recent interview, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, revealed that the organization had not yet made a decision regarding whether or not it will issue a digital dollar.

A governor with skepticism

Christopher Waller was present at the Money 20/20 conference in Las Vegas on Tuesday, where he was asked to give his opinion on the role that central banks should play in the development of digital currencies (CBDCs).

The governor of the Federal Reserve stated that he was not a great admirer of a digital dollar because it would merely be a checking account, and this was one of the reasons why he held this opinion.

However, he did add that he was open to listen to anyone who could convince him that it could actually be beneficial to him in the long run.

There are others who believe that the establishment of a digital currency that is supported by the Federal Reserve would be beneficial to the maintenance of the United States dollar's position as the preeminent currency on the global market.

After all, a great number of nations, notably China, have been hard at work designing their very own digital currencies to be issued by their national central banks (CBDCs).

The development of China

The People's Bank of China (PBoC) has been testing the digital yuan in a number of different scenarios. In point of fact, the Chinese central bank announced a month ago that they will be increasing the number of testing locations available at their CBDC.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) made an announcement earlier this month that as of the 31st of August, the total transactions that had been done with its central bank digital currency (CBDC) had crossed the mark of one hundred billion yuan.

Waller claims that he was unable to comprehend the rationale behind China's decision to provide its citizens with the option of opening a checking account at the country's central bank.

In a similar vein, he was baffled as to how it would influence the function that the United States dollar played in the overall structure of the global monetary system.

In short, the CBDC

The Federal Reserve issued a report in the beginning of the year that provided an overview of the work that was being done on the digital dollar.

It was referred to as the initial step that was taken for addressing the CBDC with the stakeholders by the US central bank.

However, it is important to note that the Federal Reserve has not yet decided whether or not it would in fact issue a digital dollar. This is something that should be kept in mind.

Back in September, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, had a conversation on the issue and stated that they had not made a decision regarding the CBDC and that they would not make the decision for some time.

He went on to say that it would take them a few years to go through the process, and that before they came to an ultimate conclusion, they would also focus on earning the confidence of the people. He said this after he had previously stated that the procedure would take a few years.

Powell also said that before deciding whether or not they will issue a central bank digital currency, they will have to determine whether or not they will gain authority from Congress and the executive branch first. Powell made this claim.

Recently, central bank digital currencies, also known as CBDCs, have been a very popular topic of discussion. A number of nations are currently working on developing digital versions of their various fiat currencies.