Chris Giancarlo’s Digital Dollar Project Names Ex-Treasury, CFTC Officials to New Board

The Digital Dollar Foundation – an effort by former CFTC officials Christopher Giancarlo and Daniel Gorfine in partnership with Accenture – has tapped a number of former government officials and industry experts to boost its advocacy efforts.

The Digital Dollar Foundation unveiled a board of advisors on Thursday, naming 22 individuals who will help develop the framework for creating a U.S. CBDC.

The new members include Sigal Mandelkar, former undersecretary for the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence; Tim Morrison, who served as an advisor for U.S. President Donald Trump; Sheila Warren, who leads the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) blockchain efforts; Don Wilson, founder and CEO of diversified trading firm DRW; and Sharon Bowen, former commissioner of the Commodity and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

A joint venture between Accenture and the Digital Dollar Foundation that launched earlier this year, the project aims to promote research and discussion around the possible benefits of a U.S. CBDC. Headed by former CFTC Chair Giancarlo, the group hopes to explore how this would operate and scale, as well as whether it could be used for private transactions.

“The insights and expertise of the new advisory group members will be invaluable as we work together to help make the dollar a more effective and smarter currency in an increasingly digital global economy,” Giancarlo said in a statement Thursday.

The news comes as the topic of a digital dollar began making its way around Congress. Two separate bills introduced to the House of Representatives and a third bill introduced to the U.S. Senate all detailed how a non-crypto digital dollar might be used to help distribute funds to U.S. residents during the coronavirus outbreak.

The project plans to release a Digital Dollar whitepaper sometime in Q2 2020.