US rejects central bank digital currency push
Washington: The Trump administration has ruled out the creation of a US central bank digital currency (CBDC), with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent arguing that government-issued digital money could become a tool for tracking financial activity and threatening personal freedoms.
At a White House briefing, Bessent said the administration’s position on a digital dollar was unequivocal.
“This administration has been very clear there will be no central bank digital currency,” he told reporters.
Bessent suggested that a CBDC could open the door to greater government oversight of private financial transactions.
“I think that would be the first step toward tracking,” he said.
The remarks place the United States firmly in the camp of countries that are sceptical about government-issued digital currencies, even as central banks around the world continue to explore or test digital versions of their national currencies.
Instead of supporting a digital dollar, Bessent said the administration favours a regulatory framework designed to encourage private-sector digital assets and stablecoins under US oversight.
“We’ve passed stablecoin legislation with bipartisan support, and the CLARITY Act is now up on the Hill, and I think it has bipartisan support,” he said.
The Treasury Secretary argued that bringing digital asset activity under US regulation would provide stronger safeguards than allowing the industry to develop primarily outside American jurisdiction.
“The most important thing we can do is to make digital assets come into the United States, make the US the home,” Bessent said.
“Our regulation, our best practices are what will ensure good standards for these.”
He criticised what he described as poorly regulated activity in offshore digital asset markets.
“When you look at digital assets, all the nonsense that happens, all the things you read about, that’s because it’s the wild, wild west offshore,” he said.
“So, we’ve got to bring it onshore.”
Responding to a question, he urged the Congress to bring in legislation aimed at creating a clearer regulatory framework for digital assets, arguing that certainty would encourage innovation while improving consumer protections.