One measure of the impact of cryptocurrency technology is the growing mindshare it occupies among policymakers. The past two weeks’ congressional hearings on the digital dollar are a case in point. There’s no way to talk about central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) without acknowledging the context fostered by the invention of cryptocurrencies – which are, in some but not all aspects, the polar opposite of CBDCs. Bitcoin tends to work its way into any public discussion about fiat digital currencies, if only to allow the likes of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) an excuse to trash it. The connection between the two ... (full story)