In 2020, digital currencies have been one of many hottest matters on the town. China was effectively on its solution to launching its personal central financial institution digital forex, or CBDC, and lots of different international locations launched CBDC analysis tasks. Even Facebook has proposed a world digital forex, referred to as Libra.
Few eyebrows have been raised when the Boston department of the US Federal Reserve introduced a mission to analysis how a CBDC may be technically designed. A hypothetical US central financial institution digital forex was hardly controversial, in any case. And the US couldn’t afford to be left behind.
How issues change. Three years later, the digital greenback—though it doesn’t exist——has change into political pink meat, as some politicians label it a dystopian device for surveillance. And late final yr, the Boston Fed quietly stopped engaged on its mission.
So is the dream of the digital greenback lifeless? Read the total story.
—Mike Orcutt
Introducing MIT Technology Review Roundtables
I’m excited to announce that MIT Technology Review is launching a brand new participatory subscriber-only on-line occasion collection referred to as Roundtables. They’re 30-minute month-to-month conversations with our writers and editors aimed toward retaining you knowledgeable about rising tech like synthetic intelligence, biotechnology, local weather change and extra.
The first, on August 10, will function David Rotman, MIT Technology Review editor at giant, in dialog with editor in chief Mat Honan, they usually’ll be discussing AI’s impression on the financial system. The second, on September 12, I (Charlotte, our information editor!) will probably be chatting with Melissa Heikkilä, our senior reporter for AI, a few matter she has luggage of perception into: How ought to we regulate AI?