WASHINGTON — Despite President Donald Trump’s repeated opposition to a U.S. central bank digital currency, a former top financial regulator said market forces and global developments may ultimately push the United States toward creating a digital dollar, according to one new report.
Speaking during Digital Money Summit 2026 in London, Timothy Massad, the former chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, said during his remarks that while the issue remains politically sensitive in Washington, work tied to digital-dollar infrastructure continues largely out of public view, according to CoinDesk.
Massad said international experimentation with digital currencies and stablecoins is creating pressure for the United States to develop government-backed rails for on-chain finance.
Work on ‘Project Agora’
According to CoinDesk, Massad pointed specifically to Project Agora, a digital currency initiative led by the Bank for International Settlements, noting U.S. participation in the effort.
“The U.S. is a participant in Project Agora,” Massad said, according to CoinDesk, adding that work is continuing despite public political opposition.
Massad further told CoinDesk that the absence of public discussion should not be interpreted as inactivity.
“We don’t have a central bank president who is going to get out there and speak about wholesale or retail CBDC, but that does not mean that we are not looking at how to create one,” Massad said, according to the report.
‘I Will Never Allow It’
President Trump has repeatedly stated his opposition to the creation of a central bank digital currency.
During the 2024 campaign, Trump pledged to block any move toward a digital dollar if elected.
“As your president, I will never allow the creation of a central bank digital currency,” Trump said at the time, according to CoinDesk.
CoinDesk reported that in March the U.S. Senate approved legislation intended to prohibit the Federal Reserve System from issuing a digital dollar, although the provision remains tied to broader housing legislation and could still face resistance in the House.
Things Could Change
Also speaking at the summit was Mark Gould, who told CoinDesk that a CBDC is not currently an active topic for the central bank.
However, Gould acknowledged that if a government-backed digital dollar were ever pursued, responsibility for issuing and operating it would fall to the Federal Reserve, according to CoinDesk.
In remarks to CoinDesk following the event, Massad said that even if the Trump administration continues to reject a formal retail CBDC, broader shifts toward tokenized finance may eventually require some form of government-backed digital infrastructure.
According to CoinDesk’s reporting, Massad argued market evolution — rather than policy preference alone — may determine whether a digital dollar ultimately emerges.
