The House Monetary Policy and Trade Subcommittee recently studied the extent to which the government should consider cryptocurrencies as money and its impact on domestic and foreign economies.
“The subcommittee examined the potential impact of digital currency on the future of our financial system,” Subcommittee Chairman Andy Barr (R-KY) said. “From its viability as an alternative to traditional currencies, to its potential adoption by central banks, to its possible impact on monetary policy, it is important Congress carefully study every aspect of this new technology.”
Barr said the subcommittee also evaluated the merits of any uses by central banks of cryptocurrencies to better understand the future of both digital currencies and physical cash.
Officials said they must examine the extent to which digital currencies should be considered as money and the potential domestic and global uses for digital currency while noting many central banks around the world are considering instituting some form of digital currency.
“There is no doubt that the digitalization of financial transactions, records, access to information, and communication will continue to increase, and that the electronic networks underlying the activity continue to grow more intense and omnipresent,” Alex J. Pollock, R Street Institute distinguished senior fellow, said. “But the fundamental nature of money, it seems to me, will not change. “It is clear that having a flat currency is far too precious and profitable for governments for them ever to go back to a government currency backed and convertible into actual assets, whether gold coins or otherwise.”