Response to Fed. Reserve CBDC Paper

1.  OVERVIEW

1.1 Introduction

The purpose of this initiative is to jointly work on the response to the questions raised by the Fed Reserve's CBDC paper which was released on Jan 15, 2022. As a part of this task force, members of CMSIG community will undertake a joint analysis of the 22 questions raised in the Fed paper and provide a joint response to the Fed. via their online submission form. 

1.2 Scope

This task force will focus only on the Fed Reserve's paper response. Any further developments or follow up projects will be spun off as new initiatives. 

1.3 Timeline 

The response to the Fed paper must be provided by May 20th, 2022. As such, the timeline of this task force initiative will be set up to complete the process one week ahead of that. 

2. Fed Reserve CBDC Paper Review

2.1 Original Paper from the Fed. Reserve

Please refer to the original paper from the Fed here:

https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/money-and-payments-discussion-paper.htm 

https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/money-and-payments-20220120.pdf  

2.2 Response Questions

CBDC Benefits, Risks, and Policy Considerations

Enter your comments below (5,000 character maximum per question):

1. What additional potential benefits, policy considerations, or risks of a CBDC may exist that have not been raised in this paper?
2. Could some or all of the potential benefits of a CBDC be better achieved in a different way?
3. Could a CBDC affect financial inclusion? Would the net effect be positive or negative for inclusion?
4. How might a U.S. CBDC affect the Federal Reserve’s ability to effectively implement monetary policy in the pursuit of its maximum-employment and price-stability goals?
5. How could a CBDC affect financial stability? Would the net effect be positive or negative for stability?
6. Could a CBDC adversely affect the financial sector? How might a CBDC affect the financial sector differently from stablecoins or other nonbank money?
7. What tools could be considered to mitigate any adverse impact of CBDC on the financial sector? Would some of these tools diminish the potential benefits of a CBDC?
8. If cash usage declines, is it important to preserve the general public’s access to a form of central bank money that can be used widely for payments?
9. How might domestic and cross-border digital payments evolve in the absence of a U.S. CBDC?
10. How should decisions by other large economy nations to issue CBDCs influence the decision whether the United States should do so?
11. Are there additional ways to manage potential risks associated with CBDC that were not raised in this paper?
12. How could a CBDC provide privacy to consumers without providing complete anonymity and facilitating illicit financial activity?
13. How could a CBDC be designed to foster operational and cyber resiliency? What operational or cyber risks might be unavoidable?
14. Should a CBDC be legal tender?

CBDC Design

1. Should a CBDC pay interest? If so, why and how? If not, why not?
2. Should the amount of CBDC held by a single end-user be subject to quantity limits?
3. What types of firms should serve as intermediaries for CBDC? What should be the role and regulatory structure for these intermediaries?
4. Should a CBDC have "offline" capabilities? If so, how might that be achieved?
5. Should a CBDC be designed to maximize ease of use and acceptance at the point of sale? If so, how?
6. How could a CBDC be designed to achieve transferability across multiple payment platforms? Would new technology or technical standards be needed?
7. How might future technological innovations affect design and policy choices related to CBDC?
8. Are there additional design principles that should be considered? Are there tradeoffs around any of the identified design principles, especially in trying to achieve the potential benefits of a CBDC?

COMMENT NOTICE -

Please note: All comments on the Money and Payments: The U.S. Dollar in the Age of Digital Transformation discussion paper, however they are submitted (i.e., electronically or in paper form), may be made available publicly (including by posting on our web site). Comments are not edited for public viewing but are reproduced as submitted. However, the Board reserves the ability to redact information when necessary for technical reasons or to remove sensitive information. The names and addresses of commenters are included with all comments made available for public viewing.

Additional Questions:

1. Discuss pros and cons of DLT vs Centralized architecture for this CBDC (this could potentially be included within the response to item 22).