Towards a Central Bank Digital Currency? One View from the United States

In this, the second of the IIEA’s mini-series of webinars on the subject of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), Chris Calabia, Head of CBDC Programs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Digital Currency Initiative, shares recent research on the opportunities and challenges presented by the potential introduction of a CBDC like a ‘digital dollar’. Mr Calabia addresses practical and policy questions that this digital asset could raise for our economies and societies, including whether CBDCs could promote greater financial inclusion and how to safeguard privacy while mitigating other risks like fraud and money laundering.

About the Speaker:

F. Christopher Calabia, CAMS, is Head of Central Bank Digital Currency Programs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Digital Currency Initiative, which he joined in October 2022. His 30-year career in central banking and regulation included senior leadership roles at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Dubai Financial Services Authority; secondments to the Bank for International Settlements (Switzerland) and the International Monetary Fund; and a Senior Advisor role at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Financial Services for the Poor Initiative. Mr Calabia is a certified anti-money laundering specialist and graduated from the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy (MALD) and the University of Virginia (BA).