The Digital Dollar Project Publishes Nine Pilot Scenarios to Test Elements of a US CBDC

Partnership between Accenture and the Digital Dollar Foundation aims to promote exploration of a U.S. Central Bank Digital Currency

WASHINGTON– The Digital Dollar Project today published initial proposals for nine distinct pilot programs to identify practical opportunities to test and evaluate key features of a U.S. Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) or “digital dollar.”

The pilot programs are designed to explore how a U.S. CBDC could serve important public policy goals while addressing specific challenges faced by different economic stakeholders, including consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and fintechs.

The Digital Dollar Project (Project), a partnership between Accenture (NYSE: ACN) and the Digital Dollar Foundation, was founded in January 2020 to encourage research and public discussion on the potential advantages of a CBDC. The proposed pilots are the result of discussions, research and events that have taken place over the past ten months, as the progression of CBDCs has transitioned from “If” to “How” and “When.”

While the rapid progress of CBDC development and exploration by the People’s Bank of China, the European Central Bank, the Banque de France and the Bank for International Settlements inform the proposed pilots, the Project is focused on initiating experiments and collecting U.S.-centric empirical evidence appropriate to the uniqueness of the American landscape and the importance of the dollar as the world reserve currency. The Project principal J. Christopher Giancarlo testified on Capitol Hill three times over the summer, emphasizing the importance of pilot programs conducted in partnership with the U.S. government, the American public, the private sector, and other stakeholders to begin experimentation of a future Digital Dollar.

Developed with input from the Project’s distinguished advisory group, the pilot projects are focused on diving deeper into challenges faced by different constituent groups, including individuals, businesses, and financial market infrastructure providers. Some of the most compelling opportunities available with a U.S. CBDC include development of low-cost digital wallets as on-ramps to bank-lite products for un- and underbanked populations.

The Project seeks to solicit feedback, engagement and interest in the pilot proposals. It should be expected that as pilots are further developed and initiated a broader set of requirements will be gathered to address the challenges of specific constituents.

In addition to direct feedback ([email protected]), the Project will be co-hosting a live webinar on October 30th to discuss global projects completed to date as well as potential pilots for wholesale and retail use cases.

About Digital Dollar Foundation

The Digital Dollar Foundation is a not-for-profit organization created to support the Digital Dollar Project’s efforts to advance exploration of a United States Central Bank Digital Currency in order to advance the needs of global financial systems and consumers. The Foundation is led by the Honorable J. Christopher Giancarlo, Charles H. Giancarlo and Daniel Gorfine. J. Christopher Giancarlo is Senior Counsel to the international law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher and the former Chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Charles Giancarlo is the CEO of Pure Storage (NYSE: PSTG), and formerly served in senior executive roles at Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) and Silver Lake Partners, the private equity firm. Daniel Gorfine is founder and CEO of Gattaca Horizons LLC, and previously served as the CFTC’s first Chief Innovation Officer and Director of LabCFTC. FTI Consulting, a global business advisory firm dedicated to helping organizations manage change, mitigate risk and resolve disputes, is providing strategic communication support for the Foundation and Project. For more information on the Digital Dollar Project please visit: DigitalDollarProject.org or contact: [email protected].

About Accenture

Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services in strategy and consulting, interactive, technology and operations, with digital capabilities across all of these services. We combine unmatched experience and specialized capabilities across more than 40 industries — powered by the world’s largest network of Advanced Technology and Intelligent Operations centers. With 506,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture brings continuous innovation to help clients improve their performance and create lasting value across their enterprises. Visit us at www.accenture.com.

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