Ex-CFTC chief's digital dollar initiative adds 22 new advisors, will release white paper in the next two months

"Crypto dad" Christopher Giancarlo's digital dollar initiative has named 22 new advisory members and is set to release a white paper in the next two months.

Giancarlo, the former chairman of the Commodity Futures Exchange Commission (CFTC), first created the Digital Dollar Foundation in Jan. 2020. The goal, according to a previous announcement, is to advocate for the creation of a "portable" digital dollar that can be sent "as easily as a text."

IT giant Accenture is acting as the project's lead architect and technology innovation partner, and business advisory firm FTI Consulting is providing the foundation with strategic communication support.

According to the latest announcement by the Digital Dollar Foundation, the non-profit now has a total of 25 advisory members, ranging from businesspeople and technology experts to educators and former regulators. The list includes Lawrence Rufrano, former regulator at the Federal Reserve Board; Ramon Martin Chavez, former Goldman Sachs executive; and Accenture managing director Valerie Abend.

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The Foundation just held its first official stakeholder meeting following the appointment of the new advisors. Its next step is to release a white paper in the next two months to elaborate on "core elements and the value proposition of a digital dollar."

Notably, the U.S. Congress recently contemplated using a digital dollar to offer Americans stimulus payments. Although the provision was later stripped from the coronavirus economic stimulus bill, Giancarlo believes it was still an encouraging development. A separate bill advanced by the House Financial Services Committee retains the digital dollar language, and Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown has put forward a digital dollar measure as a stand-alone bill in the U.S. Senate. 

"Recent Congressional exploration of a #DigitalDollar highlights importance of upgrading architecture of USD$ for a digital 21st Century," he said in a Thursday tweet.


Correction (March 27, 10:05 am EST): This story has been updated to say that the digital dollar group started in 2020, and not in 2010.

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Yilun joined The Block in November 2019. She has a policy background and extensive experience in reporting and writing. She has worked on stories ranging from business to politics.