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Ex-CFTC Chair Christopher Giancarlo on Why He Launched Digital Dollar Project

In this video from WEF 2020, former Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo, also known as “Crypto Dad,” discusses his push to digitize the U.S. dollar and the future of global currencies.

By John Biggs
Updated Sep 13, 2021, 12:11 p.m. Published Jan 23, 2020, 8:21 p.m.
Christopher Giancarlo image via CoinDesk archives
Christopher Giancarlo image via CoinDesk archives

In this video from WEF 2020, former Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo, also known as “Crypto Dad,” discusses his push to digitize the U.S. dollar and the future of global currencies.

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"We believe that the dollar usage in the global economy is underserved by serving as a continual analog instrument in a digital world," he said. "We're going to think through how to create a digital dollar that serves well into this coming digital century."

Ultimately, Giancarlo feels governmental currencies will come together with corporate cryptocurrencies and, presumably, open-source communities like bitcoin and ethereum. Government crypto, said Giancarlo, might try to intrude on privacy, something that blockchain can prevent.

"Let's envision a world where you have a Chinese central bank currency, you have a commercial cryptocurrency like a Libra and you have a U.S. dollar digital currency," he said. "In those three worlds, one government is going to want to know every transaction, and especially transactions to political opponents to freedom ... and even whether you're shopping with Target or whether you're shopping with Nordstrom.

"We think in a digital dollar people could see their information being more secure, not less."

You can view more WEF 2020 coverage here and subscribe to our YouTube channel for up-to-the-minute updates.

VideoCryptocurrencyJ. Christopher GiancarloDigital DollarWEF 2020
John Biggs

John Biggs is an entrepreneur, consultant, writer, and maker. He spent fifteen years as an editor for Gizmodo, CrunchGear, and TechCrunch and has a deep background in hardware startups, 3D printing, and blockchain. His work has appeared in Men’s Health, Wired, and the New York Times. He runs the Technotopia podcast about a better future.

He has written five books including the best book on blogging, Bloggers Boot Camp, and a book about the most expensive timepiece ever made, Marie Antoinette’s Watch. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Picture of CoinDesk author John Biggs
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