Fed’s Kaplan says “the U.S. central bank is “actively looking at and debating” issuance of a digital currency”

In a day full of comments from central bankers, one of the Fed members just delivered this bombshell.

“We have not at the Fed decided to pursue or drive to develop a digital currency, but it’s something we’re actively looking at and debating.”

So it’s not quite decided then but the fact that they are debating and looking into it is big news.

Speaking at a local business event in Austin, Texas the  former Goldman Sachs executive is the member with the most extensive capital-markets experience.  

His comments came after  Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair J. Christopher Giancarlo wrote in an  op-ed piece  that called for the U.S. to create a digital currency to avoid losing their global reserve status. Later in the day, Kaplan said:

“I noticed Libra seems to be receding at the moment,” Kaplan said. But “somebody’s going to figure out how to do this.”

“People around the world are working real hard to try to find alternatives to dollars and dollar infrastructure because the more they’re invested in that, the more susceptible they are to sanctions, tariffs and what’s going on right now.”

So another central banker is worried about Libra and digital coins which is not a surprise. We now need to see if anything comes from the “Future of money conference” in Washington as I am sure there are set to be lots more comments on the subject.