Former Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chair Timothy Massad believes a US digital dollar is unavoidable, even as political opposition to a central bank digital currency (CBDC) intensifies. Speaking at the Digital Money Summit in London on May 19, Massad argued that the current ban on CBDC development is largely a political smoke screen that does not reflect ongoing efforts behind the scenes.
Massad emphasized that while no senior Federal Reserve official is currently advocating for a CBDC, this does not mean the US is ignoring the technology. He pointed to Project Agora, a Bank for International Settlements (BIS) initiative involving the Federal Reserve Bank of New York along with six other central banks, as clear evidence of quiet US participation. The project tests tokenized deposits alongside wholesale central bank money on a programmable platform, signaling continued investment in digital currency infrastructure.
Mark Gould, the Federal Reserve’s chief payments executive, confirmed that a digital dollar is not currently part of the Fed’s mandate, but acknowledged that the central bank would take responsibility for one if it were introduced. Meanwhile, House Republicans are pushing to make the CBDC ban permanent by embedding it in a major housing bill. President Trump signed an executive order in early 2025 prohibiting federal agencies from developing a CBDC.
Massad warned that stepping back from global tokenization experiments could cost the US influence over international digital payment standards. He argued that private stablecoins alone cannot preserve dollar dominance in a rapidly evolving digital economy. The former CFTC chair, who served from 2014 to 2017, has long urged the US to accelerate its work on digital currency infrastructure.