Yesterday, two separate pieces of legislation were proposed with detailed provisions of a “digital dollar” as a means of direct stimulus to American households. Today, the Senate introduced a draft bill on how a "digital dollar" might be maintained. The Overton Window on what's politically possible regarding digital currencies is shifting. Here’s the story:
As the COVID-19 pandemic disrupts the global economy, U.S. representatives are mulling a “digital dollar” to provide a direct cash subsidy to American families. This virtual greenback would help individuals and families survive the shutdown of businesses and series of “shelter-in-place” orders which resulted in skyrocketing unemployment claims and a potential recession, according to two draft bills introduced yesterday. Pocket change?
Though mentions of this digital dollar have since been scrubbed, in at least one of the proposed pieces of legislation. This morning, the U.S. woke up to a draft of the "Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act” without reference to a digital dollar. Coin drop
Despite this apparent walkback, today the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs introduced a draft bill defining "digital dollars," “digital wallets” and how they may be maintained. The bill notes that such wallets should be branded as “FedAccounts.” Another draft!
While some coiners see the possibility of a CBDC as a boon to crypto as a whole, many would prefer to stick with the decentralized stuff. However, there’s a lingering question as to how a bitcoin economy would react to a financial meltdown. Thankfully, there’s a proxy for insight: gold. Bitcoinization case study
Whether adopted as a monetary standard or not, blockchain is proving a use case in helping solve a separate crisis: the climate. A team from Yale University’s Open Innovation Lab is exploring how distributed ledgers and the Internet of Things can be used to measure and track carbon emissions. “I understand climate change as a big picture, managing our global planetary carbon budget,” said Martin Wainstein, founder of Yale OpenLab. “To me, that translated into an accounting problem.” Carbon tracks
Bitcoin saw a double-digit price rise, in part, after the Fed announced its "bazooka" move to expand asset purchases by as much as needed to help the economy absorb shocks arising from the coronavirus pandemic. As long as stocks flash green, bitcoin looks set to test resistance at $7,000. Monday's low of $5,686 is the level to beat for the bears. Bitcoin bazooka?
CoinDesk Research's latest monthly report examines Binance, Cash App and Coinbase fiat on-ramps, crypto's faltering narrative as a safe haven asset, and “criminality” as a use case for crypto networks. The report also looks ahead (and back) to bitcoin halving impacts, as preview to the event slated later this Spring. Full report
Will the US launch a digital dollar? Is a wallet bug actually a feature of DeFi? And what happens to racers when they can't race? Find out on CoinDesk's Markets Daily podcast. Listen in
Digital dollar deluge