Despite Trump’s pledge, a CBDC is being explored behind closed doors, says former CTFC chair

Former Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chair Timothy Massad argues that despite President Donald Trump's public vow to ban a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), the U.S. is quietly exploring the technology behind closed doors. Massad suggests that international initiatives like Project Agora, which involves the Bank for International Settlements, are compelling the U.S. to develop government-backed settlement rails to remain competitive with global markets.

While officials like Federal Reserve chief payments executive Mark Gould have distanced the Fed from current CBDC development, Massad maintains that tokenized finance trends make a government-backed digital dollar inevitable. He notes that while the administration maintains a formal stance against retail CBDCs, behind-the-scenes research continues to avoid losing ground to European developments.

(Source：CoinDesk)