cryptocurrency

China’s, Facebook’s plans spur interest in a digital US dollar – Roll Call


David Treat, senior managing director and global blockchain lead at Accenture, is part of a push to establish a central bank digital currency in the United States. Accenture is a partner on the Digital Dollar Project, a think tank launched this year by former Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Christopher Giancarlo and other former agency officials. The consulting firm is also building the pilot program for Sweden’s digital currency, e-krona.

A digital dollar would mean savings and convenience for small businesses, consumers making cross-border payments, and capital market transactions, which incur costs and face delays tied to clearing and settling payments, he said.

The convenience of a foreign central bank digital currency rolled out at scale could pose a threat to the U.S. dollar internationally, Treat told CQ Roll Call. 

He likened the innovations to what happened with the Spanish dollar, which was accepted as legal currency in the U.S. until 1857. The Spanish Empire’s coin, considered the first international currency, was used across Europe, Asia and the Americas from the 17th to 19th centuries. 

That dominance was driven in part by the functional superiority of the coin, which was higher in silver and lighter than other currencies, a useful attribute in economies dominated by the shipping industry, Treat said. Adding to its functionality, the coin could be divided into eight parts, earning it the moniker “pieces of eight.”



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