Published on: January 25th, 2021 • Duration: 66 minutes
Ryan Todd and Michael Rogers, research analysts at The Block, join Ash Bennington, Real Vision senior editor, to discuss central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), existing monetary policy, and first movers in the digitization of fiat dollars. They explain that there is growing interest from governments around the world to experiment with CBDCs. Until recently, much of their development is happening behind the scenes with little public attention. Todd describes the current implementation of monetary policy, focusing on the recent rapid increase in money printing and how digital versions of the dollar would enable central banks to enact policy with more speed and less friction. They discuss one of the leaders in CBDCs, the Bahamas and their “Sand Dollar”, as well as how other countries that have been slow to act and yet are increasingly interested in digitizing their own currencies are pursuing the adoption of CBDCs. Filmed on January 20, 2021. Key Learnings: As governments and central banks have taken a strong interest in digitizing their fiat currencies, some countries have taken the lead in creating and experimenting with digital fiat currencies while others, like the United States, are taking slower, more reserved steps. Digital fiat will enable smoother implementation of monetary and fiscal policy; at the same time, they’ll also be onboarding entire countries into the digital asset economy, potentially spurring on greater adoption of crypto assets as a whole.
