The central bank of the United States, the Federal Reserve System, has been exploring policy responses to the rise of cryptocurrencies and digital currencies. For example, in his press conference after the FOMC meeting that concluded on Sept. 22, 2021, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged that the Fed is actively assessing whether it should create a central bank digital currency (CBDC), and a paper soliciting public comment reportedly will be released soon.

On Oct. 13, 2021, Caleb Silver, editor in chief of Investopedia and president of the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW), discussed the Fed's stance on these new financial assets with Sunaya Tuteja, the chief innovation officer at the Fed. This article presents highlights of that discussion.

The dialogue between Tuteja and Silver constituted a session in a virtual conference organized by the SABEW, «The Future of Work: The changing global workforce and how it's reshaping business.» The SABEW is based at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University in Phoenix, Arizona.

As chief innovation officer of the Federal Reserve System, Sunaya Tuteja fills «a new role in which she will lead efforts to identify, research, enable and advocate for new technologies while fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration and experimentation.» Her appointment was effective on Feb. 22, 2021. Prior to that, she spent «more than a decade working at TD Ameritrade [that] included being head of strategic partnerships and emerging technology, and head of digital strategy, experience and innovation.»

In her introductory remarks, Tuteja acknowledged that «oftentimes innovation gets tied to technology.»