Former Canadian Prime Minister Says Bitcoin Could Become a Reserve Currency

On January 18, according to foreign media reports, Stephen Harper, who served as Canadian Prime Minister for nine years, said that Bitcoin and central bank digital currencies may become part of a basket of reserve currencies to replace the US dollar.
In an interview at the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference, Harper said that the possibility of the U.S. dollar being replaced can only come from large currencies such as the euro or the renminbi, but its instability makes him doubt whether these two currencies can become viable alternatives to the U.S. dollar. "Except for gold, Bitcoin, and a basket of cryptocurrencies , it is difficult to see which currency can replace the U.S. dollar as the world's main reserve currency. You will see an increase in the number of people using these currencies as reserve assets, but the U.S. dollar will still be the main part of it."
He believes that central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are "inevitable" to some extent, but may be subject to monetary policies around the world. "Ultimately, if you have a digital currency and the central bank's purpose is to control inflation and create a stable currency and price, then digital currencies are an evolution of the market," Harper said. "But if this is just part of an experiment, then it would make me very worried. I think these experiments are crazy experiments about the role of central banks."
In September 2020, Canada's first regulated cryptocurrency exchange was officially launched. Timothy Lane, deputy governor of the Bank of Canada, said they are also advancing the development of CBDC.