In 2020, digital currencies had been one of many hottest matters on the town. China was properly on its approach to launching its personal central financial institution digital forex, or CBDC, and lots of different nations launched CBDC analysis initiatives. Even Fb has proposed a world digital forex, known as Libra.
Few eyebrows had been raised when the Boston department of the US Federal Reserve introduced a challenge 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—despite the fact that it doesn’t exist——has turn out to be political pink meat, as some politicians label it a dystopian instrument for surveillance. And late final yr, the Boston Fed quietly stopped engaged on its challenge.Â
So is the dream of the digital greenback useless? Learn the total story.
—Mike Orcutt
Introducing MIT Know-how Overview Roundtables
I’m excited to announce that MIT Know-how Overview is launching a brand new participatory subscriber-only on-line occasion collection known as Roundtables. They’re 30-minute month-to-month conversations with our writers and editors geared toward preserving you knowledgeable about rising tech like synthetic intelligence, biotechnology, local weather change and extra.Â
The primary, on August 10, will characteristic David Rotman, MIT Know-how Overview editor at giant, in dialog with editor in chief Mat Honan, and so they’ll be discussing AI’s affect on the financial system. The second, on September 12, I (Charlotte, our information editor!) shall be chatting with Melissa Heikkilä, our senior reporter for AI, a couple of subject she has luggage of perception into: How ought to we regulate AI?Â
