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Powell squashes the possibility that the Fed will develop its own digital currency

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U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testifies before a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing on “The Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress,” at Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., February 11, 2025. 

Craig Hudson | Reuters

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell asserted Tuesday that the central bank will not develop its own digital currency as long as he is in charge.

Ending several years of speculation whether the Fed would join some of its global counterparts, including China, in developing a formal cryptocurrency like bitcoin or its many peers, Powell said during a Senate hearing that the project would not go forward.

“Can I have your commitment that as long as you’re the chairman of the Federal Reserve system that we will never have a central bank digital currency?” Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, asked Powell during the chair’s semiannual testimony on monetary policy and regulation.

“Yes,” Powell responded.

“Thank you for that, I think that’s extremely important,” Moreno said. “It makes me very happy to hear you say that.”

Powell’s term as Fed chief ends in May 2026.

The Fed has been examining the issue for at least four years, releasing an extensive study in 2022 that detailed the advantages and disadvantages without drawing a conclusion.

Over the years, multiple officials have raised concerns, with most saying there was no obvious need for a CBDC and citing concerns over privacy and other issues. Powell also has stressed that creating a CBDC would have required a legislative act from Congress, something less likely with a Republican majority controlling both chambers in Washington, D.C.

In the meantime, the central bank has launched its FedNow payments system that essentially addresses a number of issues that a Fed-backed cryptocurrency also would take on.

Moreno asked Powell to continue work on FedNow to make 24-hour money transfers more widely available.

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How buy now, payer later apps could be crushing your credit

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Small, everyday purchases like a meal from DoorDash are now able to be financed through eat now, pay later options — a practice that some experts deem “predatory.”

“You’ve got to have enough sense to not follow the urge to finance a taco, okay? You have got to be an adult,” career coach Ken Coleman told “The Big Money Show,” Wednesday. 

“This is predatory, and it’s going to get a lot of people in deep trouble.”

RISKS OF BUY NOW, PAY LATER: ‘TICKET TO OVERSPENDING,’ EXPERT SAYS

klarna, doordash

DoorDash and Klarna are now partnering up to extend buy now, pay later options to consumers. (Reuters, Getty / Getty Images)

Financial wellness experts are continuously sounding the alarm to cash-strapped consumers, warning them of the devastating impact this financial strategy could have on their credit score as some lenders will begin reporting those loans to credit agencies.

Consumers may risk getting hit with late fees and interest rates, similar to credit cards. 

“So your sandwich might show up on your FICO score, especially if you pay for it late,” FOX Business’ Jackie DeAngelis explained.

EXPERTS WARN HIDDEN RISKS OF BUY NOW, PAY LATER

Major players like Affirm, Afterpay, and Klarna have risen to prominence at a time when Americans continue to grapple with persisting inflation, high interest rates and student loan payments, which resumed in October 2023 after a pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“The Big Money Show” co-host Taylor Riggs offered a different perspective, suggesting that company CEOs have a “duty” to attract as many customers as they want. 

“Unfortunately for me, this always comes down to financial literacy — which I know is so much in your heart about training people to save now by later,” she told Coleman, who regularly offers financial advice to callers on “The Ramsey Show.”

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Coleman continued to come to the defense of financially “desperate” consumers, arguing that companies are targeting “immature” customers. 

“I’m for American businesses being able to do whatever they want to do under the law. That’s fine. But let’s still call it what it is: it’s predatory, and they know who their customers are,” Coleman concluded, “And I’m telling you, they’re talking about weak-minded, immature, desperate people.”

FOX Business’ Daniella Genovese contributed to this report.

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