The Digital Dollar Project (DDP), a non-profit organization advocating for a U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC), is starting a technical sandbox to explore technological, business and policy solutions for a digital dollar, according to a Wednesday press release.
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The program, which will kick off this October, plans to bring the private and public sectors together to evaluate CBDC infrastructure solutions, the release said. Initial participants of the sandbox include California-based crypto firm Ripple, Digital Asset, EMTECH and Knox Networks.
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DDP started working with the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), one of the nation’s largest financial services providers, on a CBDC pilot called “Project Lithium” in April. In 2021, DDP announced it would be launching five pilot projects to test a digital dollar this year.
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The U.S. is still in the early stages of considering a digital dollar. Out of the 105 countries currently exploring a CBDC, 50 are serious about it and are in development, pilot or launch phases but the U.S. is still in the research phase, Josh Lipsky, senior director at the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center, told CoinDesk TV in July.
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In June, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the U.S. really needs to explore a CBDC. Earlier this year, the Office of Financial Research (OFR) – an arm of the U.S. Treasury Department that explores risks to the financial system, said that a digital dollar could help stabilize a financial system.
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CoinDesk has reached out to Ripple, Digital Asset and other participants for comment.
