Patrick Harker talks about the future of the U.S. dollar and digital assets

Digital currency may come to the Federal Reserve in the future.

Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Patrick Harker expects that the U.S. central bank will begin issuing a digital currency. Harker called it “inevitable” and even predicts that most central banks will adopt similar currencies.

During last week’s Community Banking Conference, Harker said that the U.S. doesn’t need to be the “first mover as a nation to do this.” Harker suggested that the U.S. central bank doesn’t need to accelerate digital currency development since the dollar is the world’s reserve currency. He also suggested that the country should take its time to test Blockchain and other technologies. Still, he did add: “It is inevitable … I think it is better for us to start getting our hands around it.”

Congressman Pushes Fed to Create Digital Currency

Harker’s statement came the same week that Congressman Bill Foster (D-Illinois) issued a call for the Fed to create a new form of the dollar.

“The Federal Reserve, as the central bank of the United States, has the ability and the natural role to develop a national digital currency,” the Congressmen wrote to Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

Foster also raised concerns that the U.S. dollar could fall out of favor with investors around the globe.

“We are concerned that the primacy of the U.S. Dollar could be in long-term jeopardy from [the] wide adoption of digital fiat currencies. Internationally, the Bank for International Settlements conducted a study that found that over 40 countries around the world have currently developed or are looking into developing a digital currency.”

Foster raised further concerns in his letter about private cryptocurrencies. He also included Libra and referenced recent crypto projects by JPMorgan and Wells Fargo.

[Related: WSJ: Libra May Lose Key Partners over Regulatory Scrutiny]