Former CFTC Chairman Timothy Massad: Despite Trump's public opposition, the U.S. is actively researching CBDC

May 20, 2026 – At the 2026 Digital Currency Summit held in London, former U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chief Timothy Massad said that even though then-President Trump opposed central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and U.S. dollar-pegged government-backed stablecoins before taking office, global market shifts are making these digital assets an unavoidable trend. Massad highlighted that while CBDCs are a highly sensitive topic in Washington, D.C., related talks are already taking place off the record. He noted the U.S. is part of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS)’ key Agora Initiative, which brings together seven central banks. Despite Washington’s public resistance to CBDCs, work on this project is moving forward behind closed doors. Massad added that no Federal Reserve governor is speaking openly about either wholesale or retail CBDCs—but that doesn’t mean the U.S. isn’t researching how to create its own digital currency. At the same event, Mark Gould, head of the Federal Reserve’s Payments Group, declined to comment on central bank-backed stablecoins, saying, “That’s not part of our responsibilities right now.” When asked whether a government-backed digital dollar falls within the Fed’s authority, he answered affirmatively, though he stressed it’s not currently a priority for the agency. Back in March 2024—nine months ahead of Trump’s second inauguration—he vowed to ban the creation of CBDCs. This March, a Senate proposal blocking the Federal Reserve from issuing a digital dollar won overwhelming bipartisan support, passing 89 to 10 votes. But the bill is currently attached to a housing-related measure, so it could face significant resistance in the House of Representatives. Massad argues that global central bank stablecoin experiments are quietly pushing the U.S. to build a government-backed on-chain fund settlement system to avoid lagging behind Europe. After the summit, he said that while the Trump administration has publicly stated formal retail CBDCs are not on the table, the rapid evolution of tokenized finance will ultimately force the U.S. to roll out government-backed alternative solutions.