Cryptocurrency (“Crypto”) is an easily accessible digital asset used for financial transactions.[1] Crypto has become a source of payment on virtual platforms and utilizes blockchain technology.[2] While digital transactions eliminate the need for intermediaries such as banks, credit card companies, or third-party payment processors, it is an unregulated and volatile field.[3] The recent events with FTX highlight this issue.

The use of Crypto rose globally at an unprecedented rate during the COVID-19 pandemic.[4] Developing countries in particular accounted for 15 of the top 20 economies in 2021 using Crypto.[5] One of the most notable countries attempting to adopt Crypto is El Salvador. In 2021, El Salvador became the first country in the world to recognize Bitcoin as legal tender.[6] As such, El Salvador attempted to turn an impoverished area around the Conchagua volcano into a Bitcoin City.[7] The President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, hoped to create a futuristic metropolis from Crypto using the Conchagua volcano as a geothermal plant.[8] Unfortunately, President Bukele invested $100 million of government funds into Bitcoin when prices peaked, which led to a further debt crisis in El Salvador. One of the issues El Salvador and other developing countries have run into with the use of Crypto as legal tender is the volatility of the market. Since 2021, Bitcoin has dropped 61%, and El Salvador is likely to default on its debts in the next few years due to the dramatic drop in value.[9] The price of Crypto is open to fluctuation, fraud, and tax evasion due to the lack of regulation and backing by a central bank or government.[10]

One solution that has been proposed to bring stability to the Crypto market is a Central Bank Digital Currency (“CBDC”), which is a digital token, similar to Crypto, issued by a central bank. In the United States, the digital form of the token would be the equivalent of the U.S. dollar.[11] President Biden and the Federal Reserve are evaluating the creation of a U.S. CBDC and how it would work alongside the existing form of physical currency.[12]

The benefits of a U.S.-issued CBDC include privacy-protected digital currency, improvements to cross-border payments, and support to the U.S. dollar’s international role.[13] A U.S. CBDC would offer access to digital money that is free from credit and liquidity risks, unlike money held in a traditional bank.[14] Currently, Federal Reserve notes are the only central bank money available to the public. The use of a CBDC would provide a cheaper, faster form of transferring money and bring people who do not have bank accounts into the financial market.[15]

The dollar is the world’s most widely used currency for payments and investment.[16] A CBDC would expand the U.S. economy by creating a financial market with the global use of a CBDC.[17] Recently, China introduced its own CBDC, which may decrease the demand for the U.S. dollar abroad. The creation of a U.S. CBDC would allow competition on a global scale with China and other countries that have developed a digital currency backed by their central bank.[18]

Despite the benefits to the U.S. consumer and the global financial system, a U.S. CBDC has several issues. Many Americans actively use and prefer cash.[19] Additionally, there are privacy issues with digital currency. A Federal Reserve-backed CBDC system would allow the central bank to see every user transaction.[20] Additionally, banks have questioned the legal authority of the Federal Reserve to issue a digital currency without authorization from Congress.[21]

The White House, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the National Science Foundation continue to work on the National Digital Assets Research and Development Agenda.[22] The Executive Branch has placed a high priority on advancing research concerning Crypto and how it could provide financial inclusion and equity to Americans.[23]  While the benefits of a U.S. CBDC are plentiful, there are many moving parts to the initiation of a central bank backed digital currency in the United States. However, even with the lack of regulation and its volatile nature, Crypto is not going away. Crypto provides businesses and consumers with easily transferable, convenient, less expensive means of transferring money.[24] A U.S. backed stable coin may provide such stability. Clearly, the U.S. would not want the European Union or another Western power to issue such a coin and undermine the U.S. leadership in global currencies.

 

[1] Molly Mastantuono, Cryptocurrency 101: A Guide to Digital Dollars (Dec. 17, 2021), https://www.bentley.edu/news/cryptocurrency-101-guide-digital-dollars.

[2] Id.

[3] Id.

[4] UN trade body calls for halting cryptocurrency rise in developing countries, United Nations (Aug. 10, 2022), https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/08/1124362.

[5] Id.

[6] Joe Hernandez, El Salvador Just Became The First Country To Accept Bitcoin As Legal Tender, NPR (Sept. 7, 2021), https://www.npr.org/2021/09/07/1034838909/bitcoin-el-salvador-legal-tender-official-currency-cryptocurrency.

[7] Zeke Faux, El Salvador’s $300 Million Bitcoin ‘Revolution’ Is Failing Miserably (Nov. 4, 2022), https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-11-04/el-salvador-s-bitcoin-revolution-is-failing-badly.

[8] Id.

[9] Id.

[10] UN trade body calls for halting cryptocurrency rise in developing countries, supra note 4.

[11] Dr. Alondra Nelson, Alexander Macgillivray, Nik Marda, Technical Possibilities for a U.S. Central Bank Digital Currency (Sept. 16, 2022), https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/news-updates/2022/09/16/technical-possibilities-for-a-u-s-central-bank-digital-currency/.

[12] Money and Payments: The U.S. Dollar in the Age of Digital Transformation, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Jan. 2022), https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/money-and-payments-20220120.pdf.

[13] Money and Payments: The U.S. Dollar in the Age of Digital Transformation, supra note 12.

[14] Id.

[15] Andrew Ackerman, What is a Central Bank Digital Currency and Should the U.S. Issue it? (May 26, 2022), https://www.wsj.com/articles/should-the-u-s-issue-a-digital-dollar-which-could-compete-with-crypto-assets-11646921329.

[16] Money and Payments: The U.S. Dollar in the Age of Digital Transformation, supra note 12.

[17] Id.

[18] Boucher, supra note 16.

[19] Andrew Ackerman, Fed Launches Review of Possible Central Bank Digital Currency (Jan. 20, 2022), https://www.wsj.com/articles/fed-launches-review-of-possible-central-bank-digital-currency-11642706158

[20] Id.

[21] Id.

[22] Money and Payments: The U.S. Dollar in the Age of Digital Transformation, supra note 12.

[23] Id.

[24] Shobhit Seth, What is a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)?, Mar. 9, 2022, https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/central-bank-digital-currency-cbdc.asp.

Tags: cryptocurrency, Joseph Pastore, Kaitlin Gaghan, Tyler Rutherford