Former CFTC chairman and senior counsel at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP J. Christopher Giancarlo shares his thoughts on the potential future of a U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC). "The real issue is...how do we future-proof the U.S. dollar?" Giancarlo said. "How do we protect democratic values of economic integrity and economic autonomy in these digital systems?"
The real issue. And this is the issue that the digital dollar project has been focused on from the very beginning is how do we future proof the US dollar? How do we enhance and protect its reserve currency status in a future where value is increasingly moving onto decentralized systems of value and very centralized systems of value, some of which are going to be operated by governments like the European Union and the, and the, and the People's uh uh the, the People's Republic of China and others that are going to be centralized by private sector actors, stable coin operators and the like and how do we protect democratic values of economic integrity and economic, economic autonomy in these digital systems? And I think there's a false choice between stable coins and central bank digital currency when it comes to privacy as if somehow once privacy is going to be better protected by private sector actors, then it will be by governments. You know, at least the United States government has a constitutional bill of rights. The fourth amendment of which protects privacy. The first amendment of which protects freedom of speech, private sector actors, private sector deploys of central bank or of digital currency are not subject to those requirements. So if we're going to protect our, our democratic values in this digital future money, if we're going to future proof the dollar, then we need to take a more holistic approach and not get caught up in stale debates between left and right and between CV DC and stable coins. We need to think more broadly than that.
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