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US Fed chairman Jerome Powell addressed digital currencies at IMF’s annual meeting.

Crypto asset markets have resumed their downtrend during the morning trading session following the latest announcement from t
Crypto asset markets have resumed their downtrend during the morning trading session following the latest announcement from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell addressed cross-border payments and digital currencies today at the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). “There are a number of ways that a CBDC might improve the payments system, and it is mainly this area that motivates our interest,” said Fed chairman during the meeting, identifying a principal reason as to why a CBDC may come to the United States in the future.

“Each country has to consider its own stance on CBDCs carefully.”

While addressing national digital currencies, Jerome Powell mentioned that each country has to consider its own stance on CBDCs carefully, factoring in many things. Earlier this year, Powell picked out “cyber issues and privacy issues” as two areas that need to be considered for the United States. Today, he alluded to these issues once again. “For the Federal Reserve, our main focus is on whether and how a CBDC could improve an already safe, effective, dynamic, and efficient domestic payments system.” In addition, Powell said that the United States, unlike other jurisdictions, already has a highly banked population.

China takes the lead in issuing a national digital currency.

The People’s Bank of China has been working on its national digital currency for the last five to six years. As reported earlier, Shenzhen’s city has already issued 10 million yuan in digital currency to 50,000 randomly selected citizens through red envelopes. According to the website post, the winners are able to spend digital yuan at 3,389 merchants in Luohu District. Several economists and crypto experts have opined that the Chinese digital currency could threaten the US dollar’s global dominance. However, officials of Japan’s central bank believe that China might be the first major nation to issue a CBDC, but it does not necessarily have the first-mover advantage.

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