Fed Chairman Jerome Powell says U.S. central bank’s digital currency will take “at least two years”

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell says the U.S. central bank is studying whether to issue a digital dollar with a “very broad scope“. He noted that the Fed is working with Congress and the executive branch on whether to issue a central bank digital currency.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell discusses progress on digital dollar

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell gave an update on the central bank’s work on the digital dollar on Tuesday at a roundtable on digital finance hosted by the Bank of France.

“Cash is not going away here in the United States. We still use a lot of cash“, he began. However, the central banker noted, “It is declining, not in absolute terms but relative to non-cash payments, it is declining“.

Powell explained that the Federal Reserve is looking very closely at “the potential costs and benefits“of issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the United States, he detailed:

We are looking at it very carefully. We’re evaluating both the policy issues and the technology issues, and we’re doing it with a very broad scope.

However, Jerome Powell clarified, “We have not decided to proceed and we do not expect to make that decision for some time.“

The Fed president explained, “We see ourselves as working collaboratively with Congress … but also with the executive branch, which brings its expertise to many of the issues we have to deal with here.“

He added: “Ultimately, we will need executive and congressional approval to move forward with a central bank digital currency“, stating:

We see this as a process that will take at least two years, during which time we will work and build public confidence in our analysis and final conclusion.