Coinbase CEO Says Chinese Digital Yuan a Threat to US$

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong believes the Chinese Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) is a threat to the US dollar. This is because Armstrong predicts that the digital yuan will disrupt the dollar’s position as a reserve currency.

China is currently in the process of testing its CBDC. In fact, several cities have rolled out red envelope lotteries of the digital yuan to encourage citizen participation. The nation aims to test the digital currency with 500,000 users in 11 regions.

Beijing, for instance, gave away $6.3 million worth of CBDC to its citizens. To take part in the testing, Chinese citizens must download the wallet to receive and spend the CBDC.

In addition, it seems Armstrong has shared his concerns with influential government officials. In fact, prior to the US Federal Reserve (FED) announcing its upcoming CBDC discussion paper, Armstrong met with Jerome Powell and Paul Ryan.

Of note, Jerome Powell is the FED chair. On the other hand, Paul Ryan is the former speaker of the House of Reps. According to records, the three met for about 30 minutes. However, details about the meeting are yet to be disclosed.

However, Armstrong’s tweets from around the time of the meeting shed some light. According to the tweets the Coinbase CEO was in the US capital to meet with lawmakers and regulators.

In the Twitter thread, Armstrong disclosed that his goal was to form “relationships and help answer questions about crypto.”

On the other hand, the vice-chair of supervision of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors Randal Quarles recently shared a different opinion. According to Quarles foreign CBDCs and dollar-pegged stablecoins are not a threat to the US dollar.

The FED official made the comments at the recent Utah Bankers Association Convention. Quarles cited the US’s strong economy and trade partnerships as the reason for this belief.