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Fed chair Jerome Powell’s speech at the annual Jackson Hole conference was highly significant. However, another Fed official might have the most important statement regarding crypto. Nick Anthony of Cato Institute believes that Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari’s comment on CBDCs is the statement of the year for crypto.
Powell’s speech stopped a strong bullish movement in its track while curbing consumer enthusiasm. It also laid down the expectation for the upcoming year from an economic perspective. However, Kashkari’s comments on Central Bank Digital Currency might define crypto’s future.
Central Banker Turns On CBDC
Central Bank Digital Currencies are centralized versions of the fiat currency. Critics have often revealed that they lack the trustless and decentralized properties of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. The monetary policies of the Fed directly affect CBDCs.
Layah Heilpern, the author of Undressing Bitcoin, believes that CBDCs can be programmed to create more censorship. Kashkari, a central banker himself, has now shared similar sentiments about the currency. He believes that CBDCs make sense for China for surveillance, not for the US.
Kashkari also believes that CBDCs have no important use case. If the idea is to transfer centralized money, one can simply use Venmo. He also believes that CBDCs do not offer the cross-border payments advantage of Bitcoin and other cryptos.
