Footnote:
Nach Informationen von SSRN wurde die ursprüngliche Fassung des Dokuments April 21, 2023 erstellt
Description:
The U.S. payments system has proven to be vibrant, adaptable, and innovative. And yet, it has also revealed areas in need of urgent improvement. Lower-income households and communities of color continue to struggle to access the full suite of benefits available within a rapidly digitizing payments system. The underlying payments infrastructure required to move money from one bank account to another is often slow and costly. And the international payment system imposes transaction costs and delays for cross-border money transmission, increasing pressure on the continuing capacity of the US dollar to maintain monetary preeminence in global trade. This Report explores the potential of emerging digital asset technologies – stablecoins and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) – to address these persistent gaps and to enhance the usability of the U.S. payments system. In its first Chapter, the Report describes central aspects of the U.S. payments system and takes a critical look at its ability to support a sophisticated and diverse economy. As part of this analysis, the Chapter examines payments systems in other countries and shows examples of how the U.S. could improve the ability of people and businesses to make rapid, cheap and accessible payments. Chapter 2 studies stablecoins and CBDCs, outlining possible real-world use-cases that could address structural shortcomings in the ability of the US Dollar payments system to be more inclusive, efficient and internationally competitive. Finally Chapter 3 underscores the significance of regulation to outline key legislative and policy changes for new payment technologies to be safely tested and introduced into the existing U.S. payments system, enhancing usability without compromising consumer protection and market integrity