Fed’s Waller ‘Not a Big Fan’ of Central Bank Digital Currencies

Hannah Levitt, Bloomberg News

Christopher Waller, governor of the US Federal Reserve, during a Fed Listens event in Washington, D.C., US, on Friday, Sept. 23, 2022. Federal Reserve officials this week gave their clearest signal yet that they're willing to tolerate a recession as the necessary trade-off for regaining control of inflation. , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller is again pushing back on arguments that the US central bank should issue a digital dollar.

“It’s just a checking account at the Fed,” Waller said in remarks during the Money 20/20 conference in Las Vegas. “I’m not a big fan of it, but I’m open to having someone convince me that this is something that’s really valuable.”

Waller has emerged as a skeptical voice about the utility of a central bank digital currency, or CBDC, at a time when lawmakers and Biden administration officials weigh moving ahead with one. The Fed issued a discussion paper in January, calling it a “first step” in a public discussion.

Supporters say a Fed-backed digital currency would help ensure the dollar’s dominance as countries including China move forward with their own versions. But, Wall Street lenders have asked the US to hold off, arguing that a virtual currency backed by the Fed risks draining hundreds of billions of dollars out of the banking system.

“It’s not clear why China giving their citizens a checking account at the People’s Bank of China, why that’s going to undermine the reserve role of the dollar in the global payments system,” Waller said.

--With assistance from Allyson Versprille.