Biden to issue an executive order directing the development of a fully digital dollar



President Joe Biden is expected to sign an executive order on Wednesday directing the federal government to move forward with the development and implementation of a digital U.S. dollar.

Biden’s executive order, which is also expected to address outstanding issues the federal government has pertaining to cryptocurrencies, will require the Treasury Department, the Commerce Department, and other key agencies to prepare reports on “the future of money,” especially CBDCs, or central bank digital currencies, Reuters reported.

The order also requires these departments to prepare reports on the different roles that cryptocurrencies play in the global economy and their role in the near future.

Officials in the Biden administration said that “wide-ranging oversight of the cryptocurrency market, which surged past $3 trillion in November, is essential to ensure U.S. national security, financial stability and U.S. competitiveness, and stave off the growing threat of cybercrime.”

Analysts reportedly view the long-awaited executive order as a pressing acknowledgment of the growing importance of cryptocurrencies and the possible risks they pose to American and global financial systems.

Biden’s executive order directs the federal government to determine what infrastructure is needed for the implementation of a CBDC.

In January, the U.S. Federal Reserve addressed Congress regarding whether or not the United States should embrace a fully digital currency.

In a report titled “Money and Payments: The U.S. Dollar in the Age of Digital Transformation,” the Federal Reserve detailed the current role that digital currencies — like Bitcoin and CBDCs — and digital payment processors play in the American economy.

The country’s central bank wrote, “While a CBDC could provide a safe, digital payment option for households and business as the payments system continues to evolve, and may result in faster payment options between countries, there may also be downsides.”

One such downside is the abundance of fraudulent activity occurring in the digital marketplace, warned the Federal Reserve. Other red flags raised were the preservation of monetary stability with an economy that is based entirely on a digital currency and the complete restructuring of the commercial banking system to accommodate a solely digital financial system.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that the Federal Reserve is optimistic about “engaging with the public, elected representatives, and a broad range of stakeholders as we examine the positives and negatives of a central bank digital currency in the United States.”

Currently, nine countries have launched and implemented CBDCs, and 16 — including China — have begun development of CBDCs through pilot programs.

Russian airlines and private jets are banned from European airspace



Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said that the European Union would close its airspace to Russian aircraft in response to the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine, ABC News reported.

In a press conference, Von der Leyen said, “We are shutting down the EU airspace for Russians. We are proposing a prohibition on all Russian-owned, Russian-registered, or Russian-controlled aircraft. These aircraft will no more be able to land in, take off, or overfly the territory of the EU.”

“So let me be very clear,” she continued, “Our airspace will be closed to every Russian plane, and that includes the private jets of oligarchs too.”

Von der Leyen also announced that the European Union would be prohibiting media backed by the Russian government.

She said, “The state-owned Russia Today and Sputnik, and their subsidiaries, will no longer be able to spread their lies to justify Putin’s war. We are developing tools to ban their toxic and harmful disinformation in Europe.”

Second, we will ban the Kremlin\u2019s media machine in the EU.\n\u00a0\nThe state-owned Russia Today and Sputnik, and their subsidiaries,\nwill no longer be able to spread their lies to justify Putin\u2019s war.\n\u00a0\nWe are developing tools to ban their toxic and harmful disinformation in Europe.pic.twitter.com/7RcPEn6E14
— Ursula von der Leyen (@Ursula von der Leyen) 1645979737

Her press conference concluded with the von der Leyen issuing sanctions on the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko.

Third, we will target the other aggressor in this war, Lukashenko\u2019s regime, with a new package of sanctions, hitting their most important sectors.\n\nAll these measures come on top of the strong package presented yesterday,\nagreed by our international partners.pic.twitter.com/ikN99V14zU
— Ursula von der Leyen (@Ursula von der Leyen) 1645979897

The European Union also plans to purchase and supply weapons to Ukrainian forces.

Von der Leyen said, “For the first time, the EU will finance the purchase and delivery of weapons and equipment to a country under attack.”

These sanctions will further hurt the Russian economy, which has been in a freefall since Russian forces started their invasion of Ukraine. The Russian ruble is plummeting in value, and Western nations continue to barrage Russia with sanctions.

In response to the ruble’s freefall, the Russian central bank is intervening in the foreign exchange market and expanding the list of securities that it will accept as collateral. It is also offering banks 1 trillion rubles so that they have additional liquidity to keep them afloat.

On Saturday, Western leaders proceeded with excluding Russia from the SWIFT telecommunications network, which will prevent the Russian central bank from manipulating its monetary policy to avoid the economic impact of sanctions and make it virtually impossible for Russia to conduct business with its international trade partners.

In a joint statement, the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States committed to targeting Russian banks and oligarchs by blocking Russia’s access to the SWIFT network.

The Western leaders said, “We stand with the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people in their heroic efforts to resist Russia’s invasion.”