"Countries that adopt them find themselves in a fixed exchange rate system," Waller said at an event in Dubrovnik, Croatia. "They will import the costs of U.S. monetary policy, meaning its influence extends to countries that adopt stablecoins more actively."

These words echo Waller's comments in February 2025, when he expressed support for stablecoins, noting that they could strengthen the U.S. dollar's status as a reserve currency, but require a clear set of rules and regulations. Stablecoins are digital tokens designed to maintain a stable value: issuers typically commit to holding liquid assets, such as US dollars or Treasury bills, in an amount equal to the value of the issued tokens.

Waller criticized the concept of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), arguing that there is nothing that "requires a CBDC and only a CBDC to solve" and calling it "a solution in search of a problem." He added that "almost all the world's major central banks have simply stopped" promoting CBDCs because they "can't find a compelling case."

The European Central Bank plans to launch a digital version of the euro in 2029 after a pilot phase that could begin as early as next year. The project aims to ensure monetary sovereignty amid concerns about Europe's dependence on US payment companies such as Visa Inc Class A (NY:V) and Mastercard Inc (NY:MA), as well as the proliferation of dollar-pegged stablecoins.