White House turns attention to digital currency
US President Biden has this week issued an Executive Order on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets. It promises to bring grater coordination to this arena, and calls on government agencies to produce reports on the future of money, the benefits, risks and technical design of the creation of a US Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), and a range of implications of the growth in digital assets.
Oversight and regulation are addressed in a section on actions to promote financial stability, mitigate systemic risk, and strengthen market integrity. This asks regulators convened in the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) to provide recommendations on how to address stability risks and regulatory gaps, including possible legislation. We will be watching the outcomes of this initiative with interest.
