Fed’s Brainard: Can’t wrap head around not having U.S. central bank digital currency

U.S. Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard reportedly laid out a range of reasons for “urgency” around the issue of developing a U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC), including the fact that other countries such as China are moving ahead with their own. “The dollar is very dominant in international payments, and if you have the other major jurisdictions in the world with a digital currency, a CBDC offering, and the U.S. doesn’t have one, I just, I can’t wrap my head around that… That just doesn’t sound like a sustainable future to me.” She also pointed to the risk of stablecoins proliferating and fragmenting the domestic payment system. 

ECCB Launches DCash in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) has made DCash, the digital version of the EC Dollar, available for public use in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, as part of its continuing central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot launched on March 31, 2021. The initial rollout took place in Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Saint Lucia and St. Kitts and Nevis. 

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