Former Chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Timothy Massad, stated that despite the U.S. implementing a ban on CBDCs, this does not prevent the construction of the underlying infrastructure. Massad noted, “We don’t have a central bank president who will publicly discuss wholesale or retail CBDCs, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t considering how to create one.”
Massad further elaborated on why the CBDC ban is seen as a political smokescreen. Federal Reserve payment executive Mark Gould stated that a digital dollar is currently not within the Federal Reserve's responsibilities, but Gould acknowledged that if a digital dollar were to be launched in the future, it would be the responsibility of the central bank.
Massad mentioned the “Project Agora” as evidence of ongoing U.S. participation. This initiative, led by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), involves the New York Federal Reserve Bank and six other central banks, aiming to test the combination of tokenized deposits based on programmable platforms with wholesale central bank currencies.
Massad also warned that if the U.S. continues to remain uninvolved, it risks losing influence over global digital payment standards. He pointed out that global tokenization activities are forcing the U.S. to establish corresponding digital settlement infrastructure, and without participation in international experiments, the U.S. may lose its leadership position in this field.