•      "We haven’t come to a conclusion that we should propose, or anything like that, that Congress consider legislation to authorize a digital dollar. And it would take legislation by Congress signed by the President to give us the ability to do what we think of as a CBDC, which is really a retail CBDC with the public. So we’re just a long, long way from that. What we are doing, and I think what every major central bank is doing, is we’re trying to stay in the frontiers of what’s going on in digital finance, and it has many, many different areas. It has applications in wholesale finance, in the payment system, and so we need—to serve the public—these issues have become very front burner in the last five or six years—we need to be knowledgeable about all that. So we actually do have people trying to understand things that are—but it’s wrong to say that we’re working on a CBDC and that we’ve secretly got a lab here where we’ve got one, and we’re just going to spring it on Congress at the right moment. We don’t. I haven’t at all, in my own mind, made a decision that I think this is something the U.S. should be doing. I just think it’s something we need to be—we need to understand. We do have people who are keeping up with that, as part of the broader payments landscape. That’s how I would characterize it." Source: Jerome Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve 

•      "H.R. 5403’s misguided premise does not accurately portray the potential goals of a central bank digital currency (CBDC). A CBDC is a digital currency that is issued by a country’s central bank and the value of which is pegged to the national currency. 130 countries around the world, representing 98% of global GDP, are at various stages of exploring a CBDC… The misguided premise of this bill is based on the Chinese CBDC, the eCNY, which was among the first CBDCs to be implemented, and the design of which included additional government surveillance. However, there is nothing inherent about a CBDC that necessitates additional surveillance. In fact, there are design features that could be built in (and that Congress could mandate) that would ensure transparency regarding the lack of surveillance. H.R. 5403 would effectively prohibit the issuance of a CBDC in the U.S. before we have even had a chance to fully explore the benefits, challenges, and design options… To the extent that cryptocurrencies offer certain benefits, a CBDC could offer those same benefits while having a greater potential to gain broad public trust and utilization... overcome challenges with regard to interchangeability, avoid volatility in value, and prioritize financial inclusion and consumer protection. CBDCs may also have the potential to provide faster payment transactions and lower transaction fees for consumers and small businesses." Source: Democratic Members of the House Financial Services Committee