The Federal Reserve is moving forward in its efforts to develop its own digital currency, announcing Thursday it will release a research paper this summer that explores the move further.

Last month, I posted on China’s continued progress in respect to digital currency. In contrast to China’s – and other nations’ – embrace of this technology, the US has been sluggish in this regard. And it seems that it’s due to this reason that the US government is trying to pay more attention to this now.

I’ve noted in previous articles on digital currency that as we see nations such as China adopt this technology, it will spark a “race” amongst the nations. Although the US government is stating they’re not in a rush, they wouldn’t want to be outpaced either.

Fed officials have emphasized the importance of getting the issuance of a central bank digital currency right rather than participating in a race with its global peers. However, the moves of multiple countries, most prominently China, in the central bank digital currency (CBDC) space has intensified talk about how aggressively the Fed should move. China’s progress has stirred worries that it could undermine the dollar’s position as the global reserve currency.

For the bible believer, is digital currency something we should be paying attention to? I believe so. In my article, What is the Prophetic Significance of Digital Currency?, I elaborated on why I believe this digital currency race is prophetically significant.

I believe that it may very well be a part of the mark of the beast system that comes about during the tribulation and that as we see efforts for this progress it shows us how close this time period is, and even closer the rapture of the church.

The Fed this summer will take another step in developing a digital currency

CNBC: Though the central bank did not set any specific plans on the currency, Chairman Jerome Powell cited the progress of payments technology and said the Fed has been “carefully monitoring and adapting” to those innovations.

“The effective functioning of our economy requires that people have faith and confidence not only in the dollar, but also in the payment networks, banks, and other payment service providers that allow money to flow on a daily basis,” Powell said in a video message accompanying the announcement.

“Our focus is on ensuring a safe and efficient payment system that provides broad benefits to American households and businesses while also embracing innovation,” he said.

Fed officials have emphasized the importance of getting the issuance of a central bank digital currency right rather than participating in a race with its global peers.

However, the moves of multiple countries, most prominently China, in the central bank digital currency (CBDC) space has intensified talk about how aggressively the Fed should move. China’s progress has stirred worries that it could undermine the dollar’s position as the global reserve currency.

“It’s going to take some time to do it right,” said David Treat, leader of the blockchain practice for Accenture, which is leading public-private research initiative into CBDCs. “We’re talking about a four- or five-year journey to real availability and usage and a lot of learning that has to happen between now and then to make sure how it’s implemented fits with each country’s social values and laws.” Read More

Sources

1. The Fed this summer will take another step in developing a digital currency (May 20th, 2021) – CNBC