Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari has spoken out strongly against central bank digital currencies, questioning whether they can improve the speed and efficiency of payments.
Neel Kashkari noted that the topic of launching a digital dollar has recently become a frequent topic of discussion.
Kashkari said the issue is being studied by lawmakers because the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) believes it would require an act of Congress to issue its own digital currency.
Kashkari himself is convinced that the launch of the digital dollar is unlikely to change anything in the field of payment.
“Whether it’s bitcoin or a central bank digital currency, no one can articulate specifically what problems they solve.
I can send $5 to anyone in this room right now using Venmo. So what can a digital currency do for the Central Bank that Venmo can’t?
Just a set of words about how they can improve something, but there’s no evidence of that,” Kashkari said.
He also touched on the launch of a digital yuan from the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), suggesting that in theory the Chinese authorities could use it to track every user transaction.
Kashkari noted that in the case of the digital dollar, the Fed would not support surveillance of users – the agency has no interest in violating the privacy of the American people.
Despite skepticism about state-owned Stablecoins, Kashkari acknowledged that CBDC can simplify taxation, so don’t stop exploring their possibilities.
Last year, Kashkari branded the crypto industry unserious because of the collapse of the FTX exchange. Earlier he called the cryptocurrency DOGE a financial pyramid.