Fed's Quarles compares idea of U.S digital dollar to 'deluded crazes or fads'

Lintao Zhang/Getty Images News Randal Quarles, vice chair for supervision for the Federal Reserve, suggested Monday that government-sponsored digital currencies represented the financial equivalent to parachute pants - "a mass suspension of our critical thinking and to occasionally impetuous, deluded crazes or fads." Speaking at the 113th Annual Utah Bankers Association Convention, Quarles advocated a "high bar" for approving a digital version of the U.S. dollar. Government-sponsored digital currencies are often known as a central bank digital currency, or CBDC. Quarles stressed that the current dollar payment system is "very good," lowering the need for a digital currency. He also said that the potential benefits of issuing a digital version of the U.S. dollar were "unclear." The Fed official added that launching such a product could present "considerable risks." Specifically, Quarles noted that a Federal Reserve CBDC could present a juicy target for cyberattacks, as well as open up new possibilities