Following the latest instance of major national banking leaders being summoned to Washington, D.C. to answer questions from Congressional leaders about the world of finance, it appears likelier than ever that the U.S. might adopt an official digital currency in the near future. Among questions related to digital payment services and traditional financial tools, several banking authorities were grilled about how the federal government could best implement and regulate such a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given his recent clashes with federal financial oversight, JPMorgan Chase head Jamie Dimon did not have good things to say about the prospects of the Federal Reserve running a new CBDC. In characteristically blunt fashion, he indicated that such a duty is beyond the Fed’s abilities to manage responsibly while facilitating fintech capital deployment.
“If it is properly done it'll be fine. I don't trust it will be properly done,” Dimon told Congressman Andy Barr from Kentucky. “There's a lot more to banking services than the actual token that moves the money. There are fraud risk alert services, call centers, bank branches, ATM, CRA. So, properly done is not a problem, [but] improperly done you will have an issue.”
