US Treasury to Recommend Issuing Digital Dollar if in National Interest: Source

The U.S. Treasury Department will advise the federal government to press forward on work to issue a digital dollar, though it should only take the final step if there’s sign-off that the government-created tokens are in the “national interest,” according to a person familiar with a report emerging soon.

The question of national interest will depend on further approval of the Biden administration and – potentially – action by Congress, said the person, who requested anonymity because the Treasury’s “Future of Money” report hasn’t yet been released. This national-interest decision is made murkier by the question of whether U.S. legislators need to pass a law to authorize the Federal Reserve to create a central bank digital currency (CBDC) – a question that may be answered soon in a separate analysis.

President Joe Biden’s executive order this past March called for crypto recommendations from several corners of the federal government, and many of those reports have come due. The Treasury’s document on how to handle the question of a digital dollar – expected to be released in the coming days – is among the most eagerly awaited, because issuing such a token could upend the digital assets industry and have major implications for consumers’ relationships with traditional banks.

A spokesman with the Treasury Department declined to comment on the report.

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