# Is the digital dollar dead? Prominent politicians want to make sure a central bank digital currency never happens in the US—just as we’ve learned the basics of how one might work.
By Mike Orcuttarchive page July 21, 2023 In 2020, digital currencies were one of the hottest topics in town. China was well on its way to launching its own central bank digital currency, or CBDC, and many other countries launched CBDC research projects. Even Facebook has proposed a global digital currency, called Libra[1]. Few eyebrows were raised when the Boston branch of the US Federal Reserve announced a project to research how a CBDC might be technically designed. A hypothetical US central bank digital currency was hardly controversial, after all. And the US couldn’t afford to be left behind. How things change. Three years later, the digital dollar—even though it doesn’t exist—has become political red meat, as some politicians label it a dystopian tool for surveillance. And late last year, the Boston Fed quietly stopped working on its project. https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/07/21/1076645/is-the-digital-dollar-dead/
