<p>President-elect Joe Biden has confirmed the nomination of former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen as the next Secretary of the U.S. Treasury Department, the Biden transition team announced Monday. </p> <p>If confirmed, Yellen will be the first woman ever to lead the department. She will also take the reins of a government department that has slowly moved to take a more proactive position on cryptocurrency, particularly in the areas of anti-money laundering and taxation.</p> <p>Yellen has <a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/daily/85634/janet-yellen-treasury-cbdc">expressed skepticism about the crypto space</a>, declaring "I am not a fan," at a fintech conference in October 2018. However, she has also shown more optimism for blockchain technology, calling it "an important technology" in January 2017 . </p> <p>It remains unclear what role the Treasury Department could play in the launch of a future digital dollar. The Trump administration’s Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, has <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-12-05/mnuchin-powell-see-no-need-for-fed-to-issue-digital-currency" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said</a> he doesn't see the need for a digital dollar. </p> <p>So far, Yellen has not commented heavily on central bank digital currencies. At a 2017 press conference, Yellen discussed the Federal Reserve's stance on the creation of a digital currency, saying “this is not something the Federal Reserve is seriously considering at this stage.”</p> <p>“While we're looking at research on this topic, there are, I think to my mind, limited benefits from introducing it, a limited need for it and some substantial concerns,” she added.</p>