Trump’S Treasury Pick Is Against Central Bank Digital Currencies

(MENAFN- Yolo Wire) Scott Bessent, who is president-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Treasury Secretary, says he is against adoption of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the U.S.

The billionaire hedge fund manager told the Senate Finance Committee, which is considering his nomination, that the U.S. Federal Reserve shouldn’t issue a digital dollar.

“I see no reason for the U.S. to have a central bank digital currency,” he said. “In my mind, a central bank digital currency is for countries who have no other investment alternatives.”

Bessant’s view supports that of the crypto industry, which views a CBDC as government incursion on the digital asset space.

However, dozens of countries around the world, including Canada and China, have explored the feasibility of adopting a digital currency.

Bessent said other nations are pursuing CBDCs “out of necessity," and that the U.S. has no need given the strength of the American dollar and its role as the world’s reserve currency.

Bessent has previously expressed pro-crypto views, saying in a media interview last summer that: “Crypto is about freedom and the crypto economy is here to stay.”

He also sold hundreds of thousands of dollars in a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) that he owned after accepting Trump's nomination to be U.S. Treasury Secretary.

%Bitcoin (CRYPTO: $BTC) is currently trading at $102,000 U.S. and has risen 10% so far in 2025.

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