Fed Chair Backtracks On CBDC Comments, But Is He Truthful?

During a recent Senate hearing, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell was grilled about the Fed’s purported plans to develop and issue a central bank digital currency.

The central banker firmly denied that the Federal Reserve Banking System was even close to thinking about developing a CBDC and attempted to assure the American people that even if such a digital currency were developed, it would not be used to spy on Americans.

U.S. lawmakers posed concerns about the risks of a centralized digital currency and argued that the privacy and civil liberty risks would put the United States on track to become like the Chinese Communist Party—which tracks every transaction made by citizens.

There has been much pushback against the creation of a CBDC in America—particularly from Republican lawmakers.

However, Powell’s recent comments did nothing to assuage the concerns of Americans, who overwhelmingly did not believe his statements.

NEW 🇺🇸 – Fed Chair Jerome Powell reaffirms to Senator Lummis that the Fed cannot introduce a CBDC without approval from Congress.#Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/sT2Tftm9qF

— Swan (@Swan) March 7, 2024

If the Federal Reserve launches a central bank digital currency (CBDC), Chair Jerome Powell promises that the U.S. government will not track Americans' transactions.

New legislation suggests Republicans disagree.

What do you think?https://t.co/sx1aO38bdy

— Andrew Moran (@andrewliberty23) March 7, 2024

CoinDesk provided this statement from Powell:

“We’re nowhere near recommending – or let alone adopting – a central bank digital currency in any form,” Powell told the Senate Banking Committee in a hearing Thursday on monetary policy, adding that “people don’t need to worry about it.”

Hotep Jesus asked: “Jerome Powell said people don’t need to worry about a CBDC and it would never support SPYING on Americans. He also said that if there were such a system it would go through the banking system. Do you believe him?”

Jerome Powell said people don’t need to worry about a CBDC and it would never support SPYING on Americans.

He also said that if there were such a system it would go through the banking system.

Do you believe him? pic.twitter.com/DLkedUXOBA

— Hotep Jesus (@HotepJesus) March 7, 2024

Riiiiight, and inflation is "transitory". Mark my words, over the next couple of years hundreds of banks are going to collapse due to the incoming commercial real estate loans maturing. Once banks are consolidated it will be easier to implement a CBDChttps://t.co/uNJ13vlJ1U

— Wyatt (@SatoshiCryptic) March 7, 2024

The Block continued with his comments:

“The last thing we would want — we, the Federal Reserve, would want — would be to have individual accounts for all Americans, or any Americans for that matter,” Powell said. “Only banks have accounts at the Fed and that’s the way we’re going to keep it.”

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